Anne Lamott
American novelist, memoirist, and one of the most beloved contemporary voices on faith, recovery, writing, and the practice of being human. Born in 1954 in San Francisco and raised by atheist intellectual parents, she came to her own idiosyncratic Presbyterian faith through addiction recovery and the slow work of single motherhood. Her books — Bird by Bird (1994, the most-quoted contemporary book on writing), Operating Instructions, Traveling Mercies, Plan B, Help Thanks Wow (2012), Hallelujah Anyway, Almost Everything, Dusk Night Dawn, and most recently Somehow (2024) — have brought a generation of readers to a form of contemplative life that doesn't require leaving New Jersey or Oakland or your messy kitchen. Her three essential prayers — Help, Thanks, and Wow — have become contemporary spiritual shorthand.
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Quotes by Anne Lamott
106 quotes“The key to happiness is letting go of things.”
“Including the things you love most.”
“To grieve well is to love well.”
“In every grief, there is a praise hidden.”
“My definition of success: be of use, be alive, be honest.”
“Failure is just data. Use it.”
“Hold the work loosely.”
“Every life is a series of small kindnesses or their absence.”
“Hallelujah anyway.”
“Mercy gives us strength.”
“Mercy is radical kindness.”
“You can't get to acceptance any way except through grief.”
“To accept is the work of a lifetime.”
“To be loved by an animal is to be loved without strings.”
“Trees are sermons. Listen.”
“Birds are evidence of God.”
“Earth is a holy site. Behave accordingly.”
“In every difficult moment, the question is: what is mine to do here?”
“In the long run, kindness is enough.”
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