Quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert

What I said to God through my gasping sobs was something like this: 'Hello, God. How are you? I'm Liz. It's nice to meet you.' That's right- I was speaking tot he creator of the universe as though we'd just been introduced at a cocktail party. But we work with what we know in this life, and these are the words I always use at the beginning of a relationship. In fact, it was all I could do to stop myself from saying, I've always been a big fan of your work..

When a situation is making you truly miserable, it's difficult to say that you are merely unhappy. There seems to be nothing mere for instance, about crying for months on end, or feeling that you are being buried alive within your own home.

If faith were rational, it wouldn't be - by definition - faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be...a prudent insurance policy.

Four feet on the ground, a head full of foliage, looking at the world through the heart...

I am so consumed by wonder at their bravery. These people have left their families and lives behind for a few weeks to go into silent retreat amidst a crowd of perfect strangers in India. Not everybody does this in their lifetime.

All the pain of a human life is caused by words, as is all the joy.

Most of all, there is this truth: No matter how great your teachers may be, and no matter how esteemed your academy's reputation, eventually you will have to do the work by yourself. Eventually, the teachers won't be there anymore. The walls of the school will fall away, and you'll be on your own. The hours that you will then put into practice, study, auditions, and creation will be entirely up to you.

There were pages and pages of this. It was a confetti of thinking. It began nowhere, led to nothing, and concluded nothing.

My life had gone to bits and I was so unrecognizable to myself that I probably couldn't have picked me out of a police lineup.

When I don't know what I'm doing, I look like I don't know what I'm doing. When I'm excited or nervous, I look excited or nervous. And when I am lost, which is frequently, I look lost.

What do you love even more than you love your own ego?

Do you think you are the only one to suffer? Read your bible, child; this world is not a paradise but a vale of tears. Do you think God made an exception for you? Look around you, what do you see? All is anguish. Everywhere you turn there is sorrow. If you do not see sorrow at first glance, look more carefully. You will soon enough see it.

British physicist Sir Arthur Eddington's memorable explanation of how the universe works: "Something unknown is doing we don't know what.

For better or for worse, my dad taught me that the best place to pitch a tent will always be the spot marked NO CAMPING.

The results of my work don't have much to do with me. I can only be in charge of producing the work itself. That's a hard enough job. I refuse to take on additional jobs, such as trying to police what anybody thinks about my work once it leaves my desk.

sometimes you count the days, sometimes you weigh them. a

I still can't believe I lost my virginity today!" "You'll never miss it," she said. And do you know something? She was absolutely right.

Not everything has an answer." Alma found this to be such a staggering piece of intelligence that she was struck dumb by it for several hours. All she could do was sit and ponder the notion in an amazed stupor.

But for me, to experience life through mere reason is to feel about in the dark for God's face while wearing heavy gloves. It is not enough only to study and depict and describe. One must sometimes . . . leap.

As humans, after all, we become that which we seek. Dairy farming makes men steady and reliable and temperate; deer hunting makes men quiet and fast and sensitive; lobster fishing makes men suspicious and wily and ruthless.

The sooner and more passionately you get married to this idea- that it is ultimately entirely up to you- the better off you'll be.

Even in the Eternal City, says the silent Augusteum, one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation.

Like most humanoids, I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the monkey mind--the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl.

believe that we understand very little, and what we do understand is mostly wrong. I believe that life cannot be survived—that is evident!—but if one is lucky, life can be endured for quite a long while. If one is both lucky and stubborn, life can sometimes even be enjoyed.