Anne Lamott Quotes

I'm a writer. My job is to speak what - that which I think is true. If that bridges the gap, that's good. If it doesn't, that's too bad.

I don't want to bore people with things that don't matter to them. I want to share parts of my life that are universally true with other people.

I'm not a gifted storyteller, so I write what I know and hope that honesty resonates with other people's experiences.

Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.

Learn to express rather than impress. Expressing evokes a 'me too' attitude while impressing evokes a 'so what' attitude

I'm at my best when I'm being genuine and sincere, and reading my material straight up to an audience that wants to listen.

I think comedy has to come from a real place. It has to come from an honest place.

Not compromising the music, but there is a way, by just showing the people that you're sincere and honest with what you're doing, and by talking to them.

This is unusual for me. I have given readings and not lectures. I have told people who ask for lectures that I have no lecture to give. And that is true.

It's warts and all in my songs, and I think that's why people can relate to them.

I think I've learned that if you want to be successful, you have to tell your story honestly and from your heart - and I think a healthy sense of humor doesn't hurt either.

I'll never sing something that I've never been through. So even if I didn't write it, I have to have at least experienced it.

To have a songwriter that wrote so specifically what I felt to be true... I've never been much of an actor either. If something is real for me, then I can do it.

The best stories come out of the truth.

Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.

It's impossible to always get across what I'm trying to say, but, if I just stay honest, then I'm not going to look back on any of these interviews and wonder what I was trying to do or be.

I let people see the cracks in my life. We can't be phony. We've got to keep it real.

If you show you're human and have something to say, people will connect with you.

It sounds trite, but I like telling stories.

Good social media is authentic. What makes social media work is actually having something to say.

I never write down to my audiences. I respect honest sentiment and honest pratfalls.

I generally like to be up front and honest and open because that's how I've always been. I have nothing to hide, and I think people relate to you more when you're just yourself.

I always mean what I say, but I don't always say what I'm thinking.

I've found that if I say what I'm really thinking and feeling, people are more likely to say what they really think and feel. The conversation becomes a real conversation.

I don't feel like I need to preach to the world or nothing like that. I just feel like I share what I say, and if listeners get it, they get it. And I never underestimate the audience's ability to feel me.