What Anne Lamott has said about Parenting adult children
3 quotes · 1 episode · Jul 31, 2026
Anne Lamott, American writer and essayist, author of Bird by Bird, Operating Instructions and Somehow: Thoughts on Love, has been quoted on Parenting adult children 3 times in 1 episode of TED Radio Hour, most recently on July 31, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.
In their words
Lamott says that setting a boundary and putting her son off the property preceded his entry into recovery, now 13 years sober.
“I set that boundary, and about 10 days later, he called and said that the guys in the recovery community in San Francisco had taken him under his wing”
TED Radio Hour: Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott (Jul 31, 2026) · Listen from 31:29
Lamott argues in her TED Talk that trying to help grown loved ones is often toxic and a disguised form of control.
“Our help is usually not very helpful. Our help is often toxic. And help is the sunny side of control. Stop helping so much”
TED Radio Hour: Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott (Jul 31, 2026) · Listen from 33:41
Lamott recounts refusing to bail her son out of jail, believing that rescuing him could have cost him his life.
“I let him stay in jail overnight because I thought that if I fished him out, he was going to die”
TED Radio Hour: Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne Lamott (Jul 31, 2026) · Listen from 34:22
Episodes
Addiction, motherhood and Jesus with writer Anne LamottTED Radio Hour · Jul 31, 2026 · 50 min
Writer Anne Lamott talks with Manoush Zomorodi about writing, alcoholism and recovery, faith, single motherhood, her son's addiction, death and turning 70.
Others on Parenting adult children
- Mel Robbins · 2 quotes
Anne Lamott on other topics
- Writing craft · 1 quote
- Perfectionism · 1 quote
- Bird by Bird · 1 quote