Quotes by Elizabeth Gilbert

Don't be afraid.  Don't be daunted.  Just do your job.  Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.  If your job is to dance, do your dance.  If the divine cock-eyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed for just one moment, through your efforts, then olé!  And if not, do your dance anyhow, and olé to you nonetheless.

Don't be afraid.  Don't be daunted.  Just do your job.  Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.  If your job is to dance, do your dance.  If the divine cock-eyed genius assigned to your case decides to let some sort of wonderment be glimpsed for just one moment, through your efforts, then ole!  And if not, do your dance anyhow, and ole to you nonetheless.

Life, if you keep chasing it so hard, will drive you to death. Time - when pursued like a bandit - will behave like one; always remaining in one county or one room ahead of you, changing its name and hair color to elude you, slipping out the back door of the motel just as you’re banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, leaving only the burning cigarette in the ashtray to taunt you.

I want to have a lasting experience with God. Sometimes I feel like I understand the divinity of this world, but then I loose it because I get distracted by my petty desires and fears.

I want to be with God all the time. But I don't want to be a monk, or totally give up worldly pleasures.

I guess what I want to learn is how to leave in this world and enjoy its delights, but also elevate myself to God.

Just as there exists in writing a literal truth and a poetic truth, there also exists in a human being a literal anatomy and a poetic anatomy.  One, you can see; one, you cannot. One is made of bones and teeth and flesh; the other is made of energy and memory and faith.  But they are both equally true.

I want to have a lasting experience of God.

Where did you get that idea you aren't allowed to petition the universe with prayer? You are part of this universe, Liz. You're a constituent - you have every entitlement to participate in the actions of the universe, and to let your feelings be known. So put your opinion out there. Make your case. Believe me - it will at least be taken into consideration.

Take care of the problems now, or else you'll just have to suffer again later when you scew everything up the next time.  And that repetition of suffering - that's hell.  Moving out of that endless repetition to a new level of understand - there's where you'll find heaven.

In the end, what I have come to believe about God is simple. It's like this-- I used to have this really great dog. She came from the pound. She was a mixture of about ten different breeds, but seemed to have inherited the finest features of them all. She was brown. When people asked me,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 beieve in?" my answer is easy: "I believe in a magnificent God."

You cannot see your reflection in running water, only still water.