“San Quentin’s is the safest beach in the world. We’re not talking about lifeguards here who might yell at someone who’s being… — Anne Lamott Armed guards Copy Share Image
This is what separates artists from ordinary people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough,… — Anne Lamott Art Copy Share Image
...one of the worst things about being a parent, for me, is the self-discovery, the being face to face with one's secret… — Anne Lamott Being a parent Copy Share Image
This is the Easter message, that awakening is possible, to the goodness of God, the sacredness of human life, the sisterhood and… — Anne Lamott Awakening Copy Share Image
My main problem is that over and over again, I try to get all my characters to say stuff that I think… — Anne Lamott Character Copy Share Image
I wish there were shortcuts to wisdom and self-knowledge: cuter abysses or three-day spa wilderness experiences. Sadly, it doesn't work that way.… — Anne Lamott Abyss Copy Share Image
Mothering has been the richest experience of my life, but I am still opposed to Mother's Day. It perpetuates the dangerous idea… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
[Her] work taught me that you could be all the traditional feminine things -- a mother, a lover, a listener, a nurturer… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper. A friend… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“Sue had been told that tumors had developed in her liver and lungs. She had been in a deep depression for a… — Anne Lamott Christianity Copy Share Image
The earth is rocky and full of roots; it's clay, and it seems doomed and polluted, but you dig little holes for… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“...what good people can do in the face of great sorrow. We help some time pass for those suffering. We sit with… — Anne Lamott Good people Copy Share Image
“And what do you do in the face of this powerlessness? As a parent?" "You get to be obsessed and angry," Tom… — Anne Lamott Child Copy Share Image
“You can't find your true voice and peer behind the door and report honestly and clearly to us if your parents are… — Anne Lamott First place Copy Share Image
“About novel Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott. Q: What does the title "Imperfect Birds" mean? It's a line from a poem by… — Anne Lamott Bird Copy Share Image
All these people keep waxing sentimental about how fabulously well I am doing as a mother, how competent I am, but I… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. What I’ve… — Anne Lamott Effort Copy Share Image
“Human lives are hard, even those of health and privilege, and don’t make much sense. This is the message of the Book… — Anne Lamott Books Copy Share Image
You want to protect your child from pain, and what you get instead is life, and grace; and though theologians insist that… — Anne Lamott Children Copy Share Image
Or you might shout at the top of your lungs or whisper into your sleeve, "I hate you, God." That is a… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“God gives us Her own self. Left to my own devices, I would prefer answers. This is why it is good that… — Anne Lamott Self Copy Share Image
“I was raised by my parents to believe that you had a moral obligation to try and save the world. You sent… — Anne Lamott Being a parent Copy Share Image
“What if Sam's heart got broken again? As with most kids who are fourteen, it has been spackled and duct-taped and caulked… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
All I know is that after 10 years of being sober, with huge support to express my pain and anger and shadow,… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“I carry a secret sense of accomplishment around with me, like a radium pack implanted near my heart that now leaches a… — Anne Lamott Sense of accomplishment Copy Share Image
I am the woman I grew to be partly in spite of my mother, and partly because of the extraordinary love of… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“a subterranean murmur. It may sound like one of the many separate voices that make up the sounds of a creek. Or… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Try to write in a directly emotional way, instead of being too subtle or oblique. Don't be afraid of your material or… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“Honey,"..."you'll never draw another calm breath as long as you live. That blissful amniotic unconcerned state of people without children is a… — Anne Lamott Breath Copy Share Image
Honesty is not necessarily interesting. I don't want to hear about your dreams or your acid trips, probably unless you make them… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
Your inside person doesn’t age. Your inside person is soul, is heart, in the eternal now, the ageless, the old, the young,… — Anne Lamott Age Copy Share Image
Human lives are hard, even those of health and privilege, and don't make much sense. This is the message of the Book… — Anne Lamott Book Copy Share Image
Can you imagine the hopelessness of trying to live a spiritual life when you’re secretly looking up at the skies not for… — Anne Lamott Copy Share Image
“Mercy means that we no longer constantly judge everybody’s large and tiny failures, foolish hearts, dubious convictions, and inevitable bad behavior. We… — Anne Lamott Bad behavior Copy Share Image
Jealousy has always been my cross, the weakness and woundedness in me that has most often caused me to feel ugly and… — Anne Lamott Bad seed Copy Share Image
You have to make mistakes to find out who you aren't. You take the action, and the insight follows: You don't think… — Anne Lamott Action Copy Share Image
“Every Sunday I nudge Sam in her direction, and he walks to where she is sitting and hugs her. She smells him… — Anne Lamott Children Copy Share Image
“I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t… — Anne Lamott Faith Copy Share Image
“Talking to the parents of older kids was helpful for me, since the parents of kids the same age as yours won't… — Anne Lamott Child Copy Share Image
![“[Her] work taught me that you could be all the traditional feminine things -- a mother, a lover, a listener, a nurturer -- and you could also be critically astute and radical and have a minority opinion that was profoundly moral.” quote by Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/anne-lamott-188_astute_her-work-taught-me-that-you-could-be-all_2991247.jpg)
![“What if Sam's heart got broken again? As with most kids who are fourteen, it has been spackled and duct-taped and caulked back together many times as it is. [p. 258]” quote by Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f1/anne-lamott-188_broken-heart_what-if-sam-s-heart-got-broken-again-as_1685461.png)
![“Talking to the parents of older kids was helpful for me, since the parents of kids the same age as yours won't admit how horrible their children are. ... you can either practice being right or practice being kind. Screaming in the car helped. [p. 94]” quote by Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/anne-lamott-188_child_talking-to-the-parents-of-older-kids-was_2550779.png)