Quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert

I realized that, as a songwriter, the only thing I really do is make jewelry for the inside of other people's minds.

You do not notice the tribulations that occur all around you, to other people. Do not protest; it is true. I am not condemning you. I was as selfish as you, when I was your age. It is the custom of the young to be selfish. Now I am wiser. It's a pity we cannot put an old head on young shoulders, or you could be wise, too. But someday you will understand that nobody passes through this world without suffering—no matter what you may think of them and their supposed good fortune.

Plantain branches, like these ones here, Sister Whittaker, are also said to be symbolic of the human body. Because of that shape, plantains are used as gestures of peace—as gestures of humanity, you might say. You throw one on the ground at the feet of your enemy, to show your surrender or your willingness to consider compromise.

I made a decision a long time ago that if I want creativity in my life—and I do—then I will have to make space for fear, too.

No necesitas el permiso de nadie para llevar una vida creativa.

I learned that not only does everybody have a story that would stop your heart, but everybody wants to tell you about it.

That's just your ego, trying to make sure it stays in charge. This is what your ego does. It keeps you feeling separate, keeps you with a sense of duality, tries to convince you that you're flawed and broken and alone instead of whole.

Hvad enten du mener, at du er genial, eller du tror, du er håbløs, så skab det, du har brug for at skabe, og send det ud i verden.

I had chosen a devotional path and I was being true to it. If someday I got lucky enough to be paid for my work, that would be great, but in the meantime, money could always come from other places.

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 is sorrow. If you do not see sorrow at first glance, look more carefully. You will soon enough see it.

It also never occurred to me to go ask an authority figure for permission to become a writer. I'd never seen anybody in my family ask anyone for permission to do anything. They just made stuff. So that's what I decided to do: I decided to just go make stuff.

So this was the Ashram's final joke on me? Once I had learned to accept my loud, chatty, social nature and fully embrace my inner Key Hostess - only then could I become The Quiet Girl in the Back of the Temple, after all?

It doesn't discourage me in the least, in other words, to know that my life's work is arguably useless. All it does is make me want to play.

It's a simple and generous rule of life that whatever you practice, you will improve at. For instance: If I had spent my twenties playing basketball every single day, or making pastry dough every single day, or studying auto mechanics every single day, I'd probably be pretty good at foul shots and croissants and transmissions by now.

Perhaps you, too, were taught to trust in darkness.

Era un fragmento diminuto del universo, pero también era exactamente del tamaño del universo

Carina." Which means: Cute.

Peg could handle anything—war, catastrophe, failure, death of a relative, a cheating husband, the demolition of her beloved theater—without shedding a tear, but great moments in sports history always made her weepy.)

The world is always changing. Learn how to allow for it. Someone makes a promise, and then they break it. A play gets good notices, and then it folds. A marriage looks strong, and then they divorce. For a while there's no war, and then there's another war. If you get too upset about it all, you become a stupid, unhappy person—and where's the good in that?

Grazie mille," I tell him with exaggerated politeness. A thousand thanks.

This is nature of world. This is destiny. Worry about your craziness only—make you in peace.

Por qué te vas a meter en una diminuta caja de identidad pudiendo experimentar tu infinidad?

You did your best with what you knew, and you worked with what you had, in the time that you were given. You were invited, and you showed up, and you simply cannot do more than that. They

One thing was certain: Human Time was the saddest, maddest, most devastating variety of time that had ever existed. She tried her best to ignore it. Nevertheless, the days passed by.