Anne Lamott, on writing and reading:

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation.

It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea.

You can't stop the raging storm,
but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.
 
- Anne Lamott.

Anne Lamott, on books:

 

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth.

What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world,
worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.
Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.
They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.
- Anne Lamott.