Quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert

This is the singular fantasy of human intimacy: that one plus one will somehow, someday, equal one.

Being content with what you have already is an art form that leads to a peace that can't be replaced by anything else.

Your father only has one foot on this earth. And really, really long legs . . .

I was not one for telling the truth back then. Truth telling was not my first instinct in any situation - especially in stressful situations. It took my many years to become an honest person, and I know why: because the truth is often terrifying. Once you introduce truth into a room, the room may never be the same again.

We must all get our hearts broken sometimes. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something

I'm just so weary, Vivian. But I love this kid so much, sometimes I think it will break me in half. Is that the dirty trick? Is this how they get mothers to ruin their lives for their children? By tricking them into loving them so much? Maybe. It's not a bad strategy.

art is absolutely meaningless. It is, however, also deeply meaningful.

when you set out in the world to help yourself,sometimes you end up helping Tutti.

I also know that I won't go forth and have children just in case I might regret missing it later in life; I don't think this is a strong enough motivation to bring more babies onto the earth.

The Yogic path is about disentangling the built-in glitches of the human condition, which I'm going to over-simply define here as the heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment.

I have never felt the need to invent a world beyond this world, for this world has always seemed large and beautiful enough for me. I have wondered why it is not large and beautiful enough for others.

But doesn't that make sense? That the infinite would be, indeed... infinite? That even the most holy amongst us would only be able to see scattered pictures of the eternal picture at any given time? And that maybe if we could collect those pieces and compare them, a story about God would begin to emerge that resembles and includes everyone?

There's a reason they call God a presence-because God is right here, right now.

And what if people absolutely hate what you've created? What if people attack you with savage vitriol, and insult your intelligence, and malign your motives, and drag your good name through the mud? Just smile sweetly and suggest—as politely as you possibly can—that they go make their own fucking art.

This is what intimacy does to us over time. That's what a long marriage can do: It causes us to inherit and trade each other's stories. This, in part, is how we become annexes of each other, trellises on which each other's biography can grow.

As for things that could not be changed, they must stoically be endured.

What is it about the American obsession with productivity and responsibility that makes it so difficult for us to allow ourselves a little time to solve the puzzle of our own lives, before it's too late?

Creativity is a crushing chore and a glorious mystery. The work wants to be made, and it wants to be made through you.

There's plenty of room in this vehicle for all of us, so make yourself at home, but understand this: Creativity and I are the only ones who will be making any decisions along the way. I recognize and respect that you are part of this family, and so I will never exclude you from our activities, but still—your suggestions will never be followed. You're allowed to have a seat, and you're allowed to have a voice, but you are not allowed to have a vote.

It has taken me years to learn this, but it does seem to be the case if that I am not actively creating something, then I am probably actively destroying something

you should never give yourself a chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong, instead. a

I love him and therefore I want to protect him -- even from me, if that makes sense. I didn't want to skip any steps of preparation, or leave anything unresolved that might reemerge later to harm us -- to harm him.

Oh, cold world -- I have grown so weary of you and all your horrible bathrooms.

He became as close to me as my own, beautiful, random, and real family. Love like that is a deep well, with steep sides. Once you fall in, that's it—you will love that person always