Quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert

She had envisaged them traveling to Boston together, or perhaps even beyond--as far away as the Alps, climbing over boulders to hunt for pasqueflowers and rock-jasmine. He would say to her, What do you make of this specimen? and she would say, It is fine and rare.

I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two.

if you devote yourself to anything diligently for ten years, that will make you an expert. (That's the time it would take to earn two master's degrees and a doctorate.)

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it…..

There's no dishonor in having a job. What is dishonorable is scaring away your creativity by demanding that it pay for your entire existence.

Las ideas son una forma de vida incorpórea, energética.

Or, as Sextus, the ancient Pythagorian philosopher, said, "The wise man is always similar to himself.

Maybe you remember, Angela, what a powerful impact the word "fuck" used to have in our society—back before everybody and their children started saying it ten times a day before breakfast. Indeed, it was once a very potent word.

stubbornness helps when it comes to the business of creative

These are two things that I have always observed to be in singular accord: supercelestial thoughts and subterranean conduct.

The world ain't straight. You grow up thinking things are a certain way. You think there are rules. You think there's a way that things have to be. You try to live straight. But the world doesn't care about your rules, or what you believe. The world ain't straight, Vivian. Never will be. Our rules, they don't mean a thing. The world just happens to you sometimes, is what I think. And people just gotta keep moving through it, best they can." "I

try saying this: "I enjoy my creativity." And when you say it, be sure to actually mean it. For one thing, it will freak people out. I believe that enjoying your work with all your heart is the only truly subversive position left to take as a creative person these days. It's such a gangster move, because hardly anybody ever dares to speak of creative enjoyment aloud, for fear of not being taken seriously as an artist. So say it. Be the weirdo who dares to enjoy.

We don't have time for perfect. In any event, perfection is unachievable:

The guardians of high culture will try to convince you that the arts belong only to a chosen few, but they are wrong and they are also annoying. We are all the chosen few.

El miedo es aburrido

All men and all women are mostly the same, most of the time," she clarified. "Everybody knows that this is true." The other Hmong ladies all nodded in agreement.

Maybe because they didn't worry too much about me, I didn't worry too much about me, either.

Some anthropologists argue, in fact, that the human species needs infatuation as a reproductive tool in order to keep us reckless enough to risk the hazards of pregnancy so that we can constantly replenish our ranks.

You already know so much more than you think you know. You are not finished; you are merely ready.

there was dignity to be found in stoicism

You see, 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 don't know what I think until I write about it (Joan Didion).

You don't just get to leap from bright moment to bright moment. How you manage yourself between those bright moments, when things aren't going so great, is a measure of how devoted you are to your vocation, and how equipped you are for the weird demands of creative living. Holding yourself together through all the phases of creation is where the real work lies.

Very much of little consequence has transpired since last we met, my dear. Let's sit down for a drink and talk about none of it.