I’m going to admit something pretty harsh. I hated this book when I first read it. I had just gotten married and I thought she was such a whiner. I apologize Elizabeth Gilbert! I really am. It wasn’t until several years later that I read it again – at the persistence of two friends. I saw her viewpoints in a completely different light. She made me appreciate the love of food. She made me want to meditate and go to Bali. She was suddenly in my head. Not the whole marriage ending thing. I wasn’t lying on the bathroom floor crying. I was going through a rough patch so to speak. I was getting suddenly getting anxious and having panic attacks. I will talk about it in another post but like Elizabeth, I was wondering if I wanted to have children. More on that later. On to the quotes!

It should also be noted that I did not like the movie. Books are always so much better!

“That’s the thing about a human life – there’s no control group. No way to ever know how any of us would turn out if variables had been changed.”

“Never forget that once upon a time, in an unguarded moment, you recognized yourself as a friend.”

“Who amongst us lives without sacrifice”

“Beauty attracts  beauty.”

“I must have been here the whole time…”

“You were given a life, it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful in life, no matter how slight.”

“Your tears are my prayers.”

“Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of you life with such a sweet time of grieving – you’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and you were in the best possible place surrounded by grace. Take this time. Every minute of it. Let things work themselves out.”

“Send him some love and light every time you think about him and drop it.”

You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be.”

“You take whatever works from wherever you can find it and you keep moving toward the light.”

“Big deal. So you fell in love with someone. Don’t you see what happened? This guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought was capable of reaching. You got zapped kiddo. But that love you felt, that’s just the beginning. You just got a taste of love. Wait till you see how much more deeply you can love than that. You have the capacity to love the whole world. It’s your destiny.”

“I was not rescued by a prince. I was the administrator of my own rescue.”

“People think a soul mate is your perfect fit and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Your problem is you can’t let it go. It’s over. His purpose was to shake you up, drive you out, tear your ego apart bit by bit, show you your obstacles and addictions. Break your hear open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life then introduce you to your spiritual side. That was his job and he did a great job, but now it’s over.”