“We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life—the work which he loves, though in a different fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child—he will take endless trouble—and would doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumb-nail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.”
― The Problem of Pain
― The Problem of Pain
“What’s the difference between you and God? God never thinks he’s you.”
― Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers
― Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
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“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.”
― Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
― Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
Ask Anne Lamott - Thursday, December 12th!
— 1184 members
— last activity Dec 16, 2014 10:21AM
Join us for a special discussion with author Anne Lamott on Thursday, December 12th! Anne will be discussing her latest book, Stitches, a follow u ...more
Robin’s 2025 Year in Books
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