Life with most teenagers was like having a low-grade bladder infection. It hurts, but you had to tough it out.
Anne LamottRead
My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.
Interpretation
Gratitude for good writing is limitless and profound, akin to the deep appreciation one feels for the ocean.
In this quote, Anne Lamott expresses a profound appreciation for good writing, suggesting that it holds immense value in her life, similar to the boundless beauty and depth of the ocean. She emphasizes the idea that just as one can be awed and thankful for the vastness and richness of the ocean, so too can one feel an overwhelming gratitude for the written word, which can inspire, connect, and enrich our lives.
In practice
In a speech at a literary event, one might share this quote to express the importance of writing.
Life with most teenagers was like having a low-grade bladder infection. It hurts, but you had to tough it out.
Or you might shout at the top of your lungs or whisper into your sleeve, "I hate you, God." That is a prayer too, because it is real, it is truth, and maybe it is the first sincere thought you've had in months.
Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.
It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos.
Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, "Well, that's pretty much what I thought I'd see," you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. [...] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.
...because when people have seen you at their worst, you don't have to put on the mask as much.
NOT I - NOT ANYONE else, can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself.
The main thing, of course, always, is the fact that there is only one of you in the world, just one, and if that is not fulfilled then something has been lost. Ambition is not enough; necessity is everything.
One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out and get it over. Your problem won’t improve with age.
For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it.
Ambition, if it feeds at all, does so on the ambition of others.
It is not my prayer and humility that you cause things to go as you wish, but by acquiring a knowledge of natural laws.
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