Anne Lamott Quotes

A collection of quotes by Anne Lamott.

Anne Lamott is an American author known for her witty and insightful writing style. Born on April 10, 1954, in San Francisco, California, Lamott grew up in a literary household with a father who was also a writer. Her early experiences, including the loss of her father at a young age, greatly influenced her writing career.

Lamott began her writing journey as a journalist, contributing articles to various publications. However, she gained significant popularity as a nonfiction author with her memoir "Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year" (1993), which recounted her experiences as a single mother. This book was widely praised for its honest and humorous portrayal of motherhood.

Throughout her career, Lamott has penned numerous bestselling books, including "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" (1994), a memoir focused on the art of writing. Known for her candid and self-reflective approach, she often delves into themes of spirituality, faith, and personal growth in her works.

Anne Lamott has received critical acclaim for her distinctive voice in both fiction and nonfiction. Her style combines wit, vulnerability, and deep humanity, making her a beloved figure in the literary world. With her incisive observations and sharp humor, Lamott continues to captivate readers and inspire aspiring writers around the globe.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of th

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.

I naively believe that self-love is 80 percent of the soluti

I naively believe that self-love is 80 percent of the solution, that it helps beyond words to take yourself through the day as you would with your most beloved mental-patient relative, with great humor and lots of small treats.

Some people seem to understand this - that life and change t

Some people seem to understand this - that life and change take time - but I am not one of those people.

I am the woman I grew to be partly in spite of my mother, an

I am the woman I grew to be partly in spite of my mother, and partly because of the extraordinary love of her best friends, and my own best friends' mothers, and from surrogates, many of whom were not women at all but gay men. I have loved them my entire life, even after their passing.

I love readings and my readers, but the din of voices of the

I love readings and my readers, but the din of voices of the audience gives me stage fright, and the din of voices inside whisper that I am a fraud, and that the jig is up. Surely someone will rise up from the audience and say out loud that not only am I not funny and helpful, but I'm annoying, and a phony.

Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess t

Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.

Inspirational Perfection Writing Cleaning

E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like d

E.L. Doctorow said once said that 'Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.' You don't have to see where you're going, you don't have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.

Life Inspirational Writing

For too long, and despite what people told me, I had fallen

For too long, and despite what people told me, I had fallen for what the culture said about beauty, youth, features, heights, weights, hair textures, upper arms.

Beauty Self Esteem Or Lack Thereof Body Image

...most of the time, all you have is the moment, and the imp

...most of the time, all you have is the moment, and the imperfect love of the people around you.

Love Inspirational

[Jesus is] saying that we could be aware of, filled with, an

[Jesus is] saying that we could be aware of, filled with, and saved by the presence of holy beauty, rather than worship golden calves.

Beauty Worship Jesus Golden Calves Holy Beauty

Laughter is carbonated holiness.

Laughter is carbonated holiness.

Humor Funny Inspirational Laughter

Lies cannot nourish or protect you. Only freedom from fear,

Lies cannot nourish or protect you. Only freedom from fear, freedom from lies, can make us beautiful, and keep us safe.

Fear Freedom Beauty Safety Lies Beautiful Safe

It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual be

It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos.

Inspirational Spiritual

When I was a child, I thought grown-ups and teachers knew th

When I was a child, I thought grown-ups and teachers knew the truth, because they told me they did. It took years for me to discover that the first step in finding out the truth is to begin unlearning almost everything adults had taught me, and to start doing all the things they'd told me NOT to do. Their main pitch was that achievement equaled happiness, when all you had to do was study rock stars, or movie stars, or them, to see that they were mostly miserable. They were all running around in mazes like everyone else.

Truth Happiness Achievement

...You need to fall deeply in love with your self.

...You need to fall deeply in love with your self.

Then the singing enveloped me. It was furry and resonant, co

Then the singing enveloped me. It was furry and resonant, coming from everyone's very heart. There was no sense of performance or judgment, only that the music was breath and food.

Music Inspirational Singing Church Choir

Your experiences will be yours alone. But truth and best fri

Your experiences will be yours alone. But truth and best friendship will rarely if ever disappoint you.

If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the deser

If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or you can do the beauty of minutiae, the scrimshaw of tiny and precise. The sky is your ocean, and the crystal silence will uplift you like great gospel music, or Neil Young.

Writing takes a combination of sophistication and innocence;

Writing takes a combination of sophistication and innocence; it takes conscience, our belief that something is beautiful because it is right.

Beauty Innocence Writing

I like the desert for short periods of time, from inside a c

I like the desert for short periods of time, from inside a car, with the windows rolled up, and the doors locked. I prefer beach resorts with room service.