Forgiveness means it finally becomes unimportant that you hit back. You're done. It doesn't necessarily mean that you want to have lunch with the person. If you keep hitting back, you stay trapped in the nightmare. Anne Lamott More Quotes by Anne Lamott More Quotes From Anne Lamott I used to think that paired opposites were a given, that love was the opposite of hate, right the opposite of wrong. But now I think we sometimes buy into these concepts because it is so much easier to embrace absolutes than to suffer reality. I don't think anything is the opposite of love. Reality is unforgivingly complex. Anne Lamott hate reality thinking It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos. Anne Lamott apples spiritual remember I remember staring at my son endlessly when he was an infant, stunned by his very existence, wondering where on earth he had come from. Anne Lamott earth remember son I cry intermittently, like a summer rain. I don't feel racked by the crying; in fact, it hydrates me. Then rage wells up in me, and I want to take a crowbar to all the cars in the neighborhood. Anne Lamott car summer rain [S]he believed that the Buddhists were right–that if you want, you will suffer; if you love, you will grieve. (68) Anne Lamott buddhist love-you grieving You should not bring more items and hurdles to the obstacle course. Anne Lamott hurdle obstacles should Rationality squeezes out much that is rich and juicy and fascinating. Anne Lamott juicy rich intuition The worst time in any writer's life is the two months before publication. ALL writers become mental and pathetic, even those of devout faith, who have some psychological healing to lean up against, and gorgeous lives. All writers think that this time, the jig is up, and they will be exposed as frauds. Anne Lamott healing two thinking Charles had once remarked that holding onto a resentment was like eating rat poison and waiting for the rat to die. Anne Lamott poison drinking waiting 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. Anne Lamott mothers-day gay inspiring I'm drawn to almost any piece of writing with the words 'divine love' and 'impeachment' in the first sentence. But I know the word 'divine' makes many progressive people run screaming for their cute little lives, and so one hesitates to use it. Anne Lamott writing running cute I did not raise my son, Sam, to celebrate Mother's Day. I didn't want him to feel some obligation to buy me pricey lunches or flowers, some annual display of gratitude that you have to grit your teeth and endure. Anne Lamott gratitude flower mother Bananas are great, as I believe them to be the only known cure for existential dread. Also, Mother Teresa said that in India, a woman dying in the street will share her banana with anyone who needs it, whereas in America, people amass and hoard as many bananas as they can to sell for an exorbitant profit. So half of them go bad, anyway. Anne Lamott mother believe america Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life Besides, perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force (these are words we are allowed to use in California). Anne Lamott california block writing I understood that the man I was calling for could never ever come back. Because I understood that the man that I was calling for was dead. Anne Lamott entrepreneur calling men Grace is having a commitment to- or at least an acceptance of- being ineffective and foolish. That our bottled charm is the main roadblock to drinking that clear cool glass of love. Anne Lamott acceptance drinking commitment It is a violation of trust to use your kids as caulking for the cracks in you. Anne Lamott cracks use kids You have to be a warrior and say, "Maybe it's everyone else's system, but it's not mine." (from her recent interview here, on Goodreads) Anne Lamott goodreads warrior interviews A hundred years from now? All new people. Anne Lamott memorable people years You are going to love some of your characters because they are you or some facet of you, and you are going to hate some of your characters for the same reason. Anne Lamott hate reason character
