Anne Lamott Quotes

We’re often ashamed of asking for so much help because it seems selfish or petty or narcissistic, but I think, if there’s a God – and I believe there is – that God is there to help. That’s what God’s job is.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.

The whistle is always waiting to be blown, and in some ways, it gets me to do better work.

Living on Earth has always been a dangerous way to spend your time.

Nothing heals us like letting people know our scariest parts: When people listen to you cry and lament, and look at you with love, it’s like they are holding the baby of you.

My mother was a not-too-devoted atheist. She went to Episcopal church on Christmas Eve every year, and that was mostly it.

I woke up full of hate and fear the day before the most recent peace march in San Francisco. This was disappointing: I’d hoped to wake up feeling somewhere between Virginia Woolf and Wavy Gravy.

These days cry out, as never before, for us to pay attention, so we can move through them and get our joy and pride back.

E-books are great for instant gratification – you see a review somewhere of a book that interests you, and you can start reading it five minutes later.

I would seriously rather be in a long line at the DMV than eat with people I don’t know.

I spent my whole life helping my mother carry around her psychic trunks like a bitter bellhop. So a great load was lifted when she died, and my life was much easier.

I go to church every Sunday, which is like going to the gas station once a week and really, really filling up.

Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.

I am skittish about relationships, as most of the marriages I’ve seen up close have been ruinous for one or both parties.