Life with most teenagers was like having a low-grade bladder infection. It hurts, but you had to tough it out.
Anne LamottRead
Your experiences will be yours alone. But truth and best friendship will rarely if ever disappoint you.
Interpretation
Personal experiences are unique, but genuine friendship and truth are reliable sources of support.
This quote emphasizes the individuality of our experiences, suggesting that while everyone goes through their own distinct life events, the foundations of true friendship and honesty provide a steady source of comfort and assurance. Lamott highlights the rarity of disappointment that comes from authentic connections and the truth, indicating that these elements are crucial for a fulfilling life.
In practice
This quote can be shared at a friend's wedding to highlight the importance of true friendship.
Life with most teenagers was like having a low-grade bladder infection. It hurts, but you had to tough it out.
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.
Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd 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 people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.
It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos.
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.
...because when people have seen you at their worst, you don't have to put on the mask as much.
Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.
It is important to have friends we can trust. But it is essential to trust the Lord, who never lets us down.
Again and again, I learn how much friendship enriches my life, bringing warmth, assurance, humour, inspiration, a sense of security. It depends on honesty, trust, loyalty. It's about giving. It's for sharing the good times, but also the tough times, hurt, grief, sadness.
My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.
The heart of a friend gives out sufficient light for us in the dark to rise by.
If a friend of mine gave a feast, and did not invite me to it, I should not mind a bit. but if a friend of mine had a sorrow and refused to allow me to share it, I should feel it most bitterly. If he shut the doors of the house of mourning against me, I would move back again and again and beg to be admitted so that I might share in what I was entitled to share. If he thought me unworthy, unfit to weep with him, I should feel it as the most poignant humiliation.
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