I have more compassion than if I had led a life where everything worked out exactly as I had planned or if I had never been wounded or if I had never been betrayed or I had never been harmed. I don't think I would be as good a person. Elizabeth Gilbert More Quotes by Elizabeth Gilbert More Quotes From Elizabeth Gilbert I share it here because something was about to occur on that bathroom floor that would change forever the progression of my life..what happened was that I started to pray. Elizabeth Gilbert bathroom praying forever Go back to bed', said the omniscient interior voice, because you don't need to know the final answer right now, at three o'clock in the morning on the Thursday in November. 'Go back to bed', because I love you. 'Go back to bed', beacause 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. Elizabeth Gilbert voice love-you morning Parla Come Mangi' --It is a common way to say 'be simple', 'don't try to be rhetorical' literaly: 'speak the way you eat Elizabeth Gilbert simple food trying Sometimes out hearts are broken so new light can get in. Elizabeth Gilbert light broken heart Time -- when pursued like a bandit -- will behave like one; always remaining one country or one room ahead of you, changing its name and hair color to elude you, slipping ou the back door of the motel just as you're banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, leaving only a burning cigarette in the ashtray to taunt you. Elizabeth Gilbert hair doors country Embrace the beautiful mess that you are. Elizabeth Gilbert beautiful-mess embrace beautiful I don't think you can come into your wisdom until you have made mistakes on your own skin and felt them in reality of your own life. Elizabeth Gilbert mistake reality thinking I think sometimes we look at other people's marriages and we think they must always be so happy together. I don't know anybody who's married for a long time who hasn't somehow made room in their love story for the hate and resentment that they sometimes feel toward each other. Elizabeth Gilbert hate long thinking That's your friend. My husband is my best friend. He's not the mirror that holds up my flaws. He's just the guy who's like, 'I think you're terrific'... It's just simple, showing up for each other. Elizabeth Gilbert husband simple thinking There were times, especially when I was traveling for 'Eat, Pray, Love,' when, I swear to God, I would feel this weight of my female ancestors, all those Swedish farmwives from beyond the grave who were like, 'Go! Go to Naples! Eat more pizza! Go to India, ride an elephant! Do it! Swim in the Indian Ocean. Read those books. Learn a language.' Elizabeth Gilbert swear-to-god ocean book When I lost my friends, it was because I had used the power of giving on them recklessly. I swept into their lives with my big fat checkbook, and I erased years of obstacles for them overnight - but sometimes, in the process, I also accidentally erased years of dignity. Elizabeth Gilbert dignity giving years Admittedly, I am not the one who looks fantastic in everything, but still I cannot help loving myself. Elizabeth Gilbert loving-myself helping looks I think it's unfortunate that there exists only one path in America to complete social legitimacy, and that is marriage. I think, for instance, that it would be far easier for Americans to elect a black president or a female president than an unmarried president. Elizabeth Gilbert black america thinking What profound reward you must glean from studying the world so closely....Too many people turn away from small wonders, I find. There is so much more potency to be found in detail than generalities, but most souls cannot train themselves to sit still for it. Elizabeth Gilbert soul profound people Here's the thing: the unit of reverence in Europe is the family, which is why a child born today of unmarried parents in Sweden has a better chance of growing up in a house with both of his parents than a child born to a married couple in America. Here we revere the couple, there they revere the family. Elizabeth Gilbert growing-up couple children Then my mother shocked me. She said, " All those things that you want from your relationship, Liz? I have always wanted those things too." [She] showed me the handful of bullets she'd had to bite over the decades in order to stay happily married (and she was happily married...) to my father. "You have to understand how little I was raised to expect that I desired in life, honey. Remember- I come from a different time and place... and you have to understand how much I love your father. Elizabeth Gilbert mother order father If I am to truly become an autonomous woman, then I must take over that role of being my own guardian. Elizabeth Gilbert autonomous guardian roles As smoking is to the lungs, so is resentment to the soul; even one puff is bad for you. Elizabeth Gilbert puff soul smoking The mosquitoes here are big enough to rape a chicken. Elizabeth Gilbert mosquitoes bigs enough Until I can feel as ecstatic about having a baby as I felt about going to New Zealand to search for giant squid, I cannot have a baby. Elizabeth Gilbert squids giants baby
