The 13 best Anne Lamott quotes to cheer you up–these are the best inspirational Anne Lamott quotes on grace, from her book Bird by Bird, and from Anne Lamott’s other books.

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I was in a terrible mood this morning. Grumpy, grouchy, not grateful at all.

The sun was shining, which was annoying. I didn’t really feel like working, but I didn’t really feel like not working.

I just felt fussy, like a baby who squirms and yelps and shakes a tiny fist at the world for not being a little warmer, less confusing, more neatly organized, and free of dog hair that must perpetually (perpetually!) be vacuumed.

(Pepper, on the other hand, has no such angst. Her greatest hardship is bath time.)

What do you do when you wake up in a mood?

I usually pick up a book. Or in a rush, I scroll through my Quotes board on Pinterest.

There’s something about reading quotes that centers me and helps me start looking up at the sky instead of down at my feet.

So in case you also need a mid-week pick-me-up, today I’m sharing 13 of my favorite inspirational Anne Lamott quotes.

These are the Anne Lamott quotes that shake me awake and make me take a deep breath and smile. I hope they brighten your day, too!

The 13 best Anne Lamott quotes to cheer you up

“It’s good to do uncomfortable things. It’s weight training for life.”

“Rest and laughter are the most spiritual and subversive acts of all. Laugh, rest, slow down.”

“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.”

“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a better past.”

“Maybe all we can do is make our remaining time here full of gentleness and good humor.” (Here’s another one I love so much it became an art print. Hang it by your desk, and download it for free here!)

“I do not understand the mystery of grace — only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.”

“Your problem is how you are going to spend this one 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 circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.”

“You can either practice being right or practice being kind.”

“It’s funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools – friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty – and said ‘do the best you can with these, they will have to do.’ And mostly, against all odds, they do.”

“We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be.”

“Gratitude, not understanding, is the secret to joy and equanimity.”

“It is unearned love–the love that goes before, that greets us on the way. It’s the help you receive when you have no bright ideas left, when you are empty and desperate and have discovered that your best thinking and most charming charm have failed you. Grace is the light or electricity or juice or breeze that takes you from that isolated place and puts you with others who are as startled and embarrassed and eventually grateful as you are to be there.”

“These are the words I want on my gravestone: that I was a helper, and that I danced.”

For more Anne Lamott quotes and printables:

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5 quick reads for the week

1. This is how big the audiobook market has gotten. And it’s only going to get bigger.
2. Pinterest is so good for writers! Come join the fun.
3. Food52 recaps their favorite blogger’s first posts and hooray–my author, Nik, makes the cut!
4. Hilarious.
5. Proud to be doing my part to counteract breathless food writing by cooking breathlessly average meals.

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What we’re eating this week

I took a cooking vacation and now I’m back, refreshed, and ready to order takeout! Ha. I really am trying to balance the home-cooking thing with the I’m-tired-and-want-sushi thing, and here’s how it’s working out lately:

Sunday: A made-up recipe wherein I cook a venison loin in the Instant Pot, douse it in Korean BBQ sauce, serve it with a brussels slaw, and pretend mightily that it works. An imagination delusion is a wonderful thing in the kitchen.

Monday: We lucked into some nice 4-H steaks and asparagus, so I did a no-recipe recipe wherein I grill steaks and asparagus on a grill until nicely grilled, and well…that’s about it. I know, I know, I should be writing these menu plans for the Times.

Tuesday: I cook an impressive dinner wherein I go to the dumpling house across from Port Authority and let someone else make me the most luscious soup dumplings while I read a paperback and feel extremely smug.

Wednesday: I’m taking my Yaya out to dinner, and here’s the plot: we both order burgers, complain about how cold it is in the restaurant, complain about how Americans over-AC everything in the summer, complain about how loud it is, complain about misbehaved children/dogs we’ve known, and feel very happy to be right where we are.

Thursday: Let me paint you a picture: Amtrak, editing, wine, Caps game, a microwaved Jimmy Dean sausage-egg-and-cheese. How is this not yet a think piece called “This is the *Right* Way to Amtrak (You’ll Never Guess!)”?

Friday: Girls night! Wherein we engage in my favorite pastime: aggressively debating which pizza restaurant we’ll order from based on a 7-point decision matrix: speed of delivery x cost x flavor x dipping sauce options x who already has the app downloaded x toppings x who is loudest/most willing to smash a wine bottle and threaten others with it until she gets her way. Cannot wait!

Cheers!