Ann Patchett Quotes

I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the first book had not sold... doesn't bear thinking about, but I suppose we'd have made it work somehow.

Some days, I'm going to miss shots; some days, I'm not.

I'm used to things not coming in the packages you expect.

If it comes as a constant surprise each and every time something unexpected occurs, you're not only going to be miserable whenever you attempt something big, you're going to have a much harder time accepting it and moving on to attempts two, three, and four.

Whenever you looked forward to anything pleasant you were sure to be more or less disappointed . . . perhaps that is true. But there is a good side to it too. The bad things don't always come up to your expectations either . . . they nearly always turn out ever so much better than you think.

Pray for the best, prepare for the worst, and expect the unexpected.

Success in life is defined by how well you deal with plan B.

Sometimes things go really well, and sometimes they don't, and it's not ultimately the most important thing.

If things don't go fantastically, you just have to deal with it.

One of the most predictable things in life is there will be change. You are better off if you can have a say in the change. But you are ignorant or naive if you don't think there will be change, whether you want it to or not.

If you get too attached to how you want it to come out the other side, you freeze. I try to trust that it will work out in the end.

Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.

I've had a long line of failed television programs, pilots that were never picked up, series that didn't go very long. I've learned that there's really nothing you can do. If it's not in my control, I try not to worry about it.

If I learned anything from Betty coming into my life, it's to just be open to all the things that come along.

Going by my past journey, I am not certain where life will take me, what turns and twists will happen; nobody knows where they will end up. As life changes direction, I'll flow with it.

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

You may not win the Super Bowl. Your kids may not go on to be doctors and lawyers and everything may not go perfectly. That doesn't mean it was a bad plan or the wrong thing. It's just like a football season. Everything's not going to go perfect.

I always try to plan things out, but they never work out the way I expect.

We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.

If some longing goes unmet, don't be astonished. We call that Life.

I just roll with the punches.

At different times in my life, I've made grand statements like, 'I want these many kids, and I want them by this age.' I think, with every year that goes by, I accept that I don't know when it's going to happen or how it's going to happen. I'll just take it one day at a time, and when I'm ready, I'll be ready. It'll reveal itself, I guess.

My life is so full of surprises, nothing surprises me any more.

You have to expect failure; not everything is going to work.

The thing you think is going to be huge ends up not being huge at all, and the most minute thing you do is talked about for the rest of your life, so I try not to have any expectations at all. I think that helps, if you're just focusing on the project at hand.