Anne Lamott Quotes

You didn't want to bring home anything but an A or a B. To my mom, a C was like an F.

Whatever the course, whether the course was boring or interesting to me, whether I was talented in mathematics or not talented in languages, my parents expected A's.

Schoolwork came kind of natural to me, but when I brought home a grade that wasn't up to par, my parents let me know it.

My parents had very high expectations. They expected me to get straight A's from the time I was in kindergarten.

My parents don't press it but, you know, they're into good grades.

If I came home with a grade of A, my father would say, 'There must have been a lot of dummies in that class.'

My dad was very critical and had very high expectations without a lot of the details filled in. It was, 'I expect you to achieve greatness in grades, in athletics, in whatever you do.'

My parents were amazing and wonderful, but there was a lot of pressure to do my best and in every way possible.

I had to get good grades and do well in school - my mother was an assistant principal and my father was a teacher - and they took this very seriously.

I always have to bring back an all-A report card.

I think I can be pretty focused, but as I say, it was more wanting to be the good student, seeing myself as a good student, and also, my parents had expectations. They wouldn't have cared if I got a B or a C or even a D.

I think in the case of my father, in terms of the things that influenced me, he never pressed me to go into academics or pressed me to go to a field, and indeed, my behavior was largely to move as far the other direction. I don't think that's uncommon with people with very successful parents.

My parents always supported me, but I was put to task. My father thought when I sang, I was sharp; my mother was upset when I wasn't in the first line at recitals.

When I was in first grade, some psychologist told my mom if I didn't go to graduate school, she basically failed as a parent, because I had the aptitude to do it. Which is so dumb. Huge pressure!

My dad was very strict. He was absolutely the Tiger Dad. You know, 'You got a 98% on this test? Why didn't you get 100?' That was normal life for my brothers and I.

I've always been an A or B student. When I get a B, I freak out a little bit!

As for my own truncated secondary education, my head was in the clouds as my mom would say, or if you asked my father, up my ass.

My parents were extraordinarily focused on education. It was the topic of every dinner conversation, is are you number one, are you getting all As, if not, why not. You need to do better. So my entire orientation and focus growing up was around doing your best and making sure that you were going to get the best education possible.

Duke is in extremely competitive environment. In my high school, I think I got one B my whole four years. I was used to being the smartest kid in every class I was in, and then I went to Duke and suddenly I was the dumbest kid in every class. Everybody there is up to something.

My parents are not shy, clearly publicly and otherwise, in expressing their hopes that they will soon be grandparents.

Mothers subject their daughters to a level of scrutiny people usually reserve for themselves. A mother's gaze is like a magnifying glass held between the sun's rays and kindling. It concentrates the rays of imperfection on her daughter's yearning for approval. The result can be a conflagration - whoosh.

I went to college when I was 27, and somehow, between high school and college, I became obsessed with getting A's. I can tell you exactly how many non-A's I had, and tell you honestly that I cried every time!

I looked up at my mom, and I was like, 'Well, Mom, uh, when you really think about it, C's aren't really that bad. C's are average.' And I've never seen my mom so upset, to this day. I just saw this flash of fire in her eyes, and she yelled, 'Average? You are never allowed to be average, because you look like me.'

I liked the fact that my father had a lot of expectations from my brother. I probably wanted to be that person who he could be proud of.

My parents, they were just really strict on things being perfect.