Elizabeth Gilbert citations

Page 7

“Chérie, je suis Brésilien du sud. Je peux passer dix ans avec le coeur brisé à cause d'une femme que je n'ai même pas embrassée.”

“We have hands; we can stand on them if we want to. That's our privilege. That's the joy of a mortal body. And that's why God needs us. Because God loves to feel things through our hands.”

“If something is rubbing so hard against you, you can be sure it's working on you.”

“True wisdom gives the only possible answer at any given moment, and that night, going back to bed was the only possible answer.”

“if I am not actively creating something, then I am probably actively destroying something”

“It's so much easier and cheaper to keep the river uncontaminated in the first place than it is to clean it up again once it's been polluted.”

“David was catnip and kryptonite to me.”

“Most of humanity, he said, have eyes that are so caked shut with the dust of deception they will never see the truth, no matter who tries to help them.”

“living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.”

“Who will ever kiss this encyclopedia of a head?”

“The appreciation of pleasure can be the anchor of humanity.”

“As far as we know, we are the only species on the planet who have been given the gift-or curse, perhaps-of awareness about our own mortality. Everything here eventually dies; we're just the lucky ones who get to think about this fact every day.”

“the only thing you need to
do for now is get some rest and take good care of yourself until you do
know the answer”

“What do you love doing so much that the words failure and success essentially become irrelevant?”

“What kind of dog is that?" I would always give the same answer: "She's a brown dog." Similarly, when the question is raised, "What kind of God do you believe in?" my answer is easy: "I believe in a magnificent God.”

“All transformation appears to be motivated by desperation and emergency.”

“Equally disquieting are the times when we do make a choice, only to later feel as though we have murdered some other aspect of our being by settling on one single concrete decision.”

“A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake.”

“What Richard is talking about is instead admitting to the existence of negative thoughts, understanding where they came from and why they arrived, and then - with great forgiveness and fortitude - dismissing them.”

“A lovely evening of new idioms and fresh mozzarella.”

“Before you realize this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair, a notion nicely expressed in this exasperated line from the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus: 'You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not.”

“you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead.”

“Venice is beautiful, but like a Bergman movie is beautiful; you can admire it, but you don't really want to live in it.”

“Listen to the whispers or soon you will be listening to the screams.”

“To be prosperous and happy in life, Henry, it is simple. Pick one woman, pick it well, and surrender.”

“Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying "Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding.”

“It may be that same-sex couples will save the institution of marriage.”

“It might have been done before, but it hasn’t been done by you!”

“The best we can do then, in response to our incomprehensible and dangerous world, is to practice holding equilibrium internally - no matter what insanity is transpiring out there.”

“Even in the worst tragedies and crisis, there’s no reason to add to everyone’s misery by looking miserable yourself.”