Addiction is the hallmark of every infatuation-based love story. It all begins when the object of your adoration bestows upon you a heady, hallucinogenic dose of something you never even dared to admit that you wanted—an emotional speedball, perhaps, of thunderous love and roiling excitement. Soon you start craving that intense attention, with the hungry obsession of any junkie. When the drug is withheld, you promptly turn sick, crazy and depleted (not to mention resentful of the dealer who encouraged this addiction in the first place but who now refuses to pony up the good stuff anymore—despite...

— Elizabeth Gilbert

Admittedly, I am not the one who looks fantastic in everything, but still I cannot help loving myself.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

A family in my sister's neighborhood was recently stricken with a double tragedy, when both the young mother and her three-year-old son were diagnosed with cancer. When Catherine told me about this, I could only say, shocked, "Dear God, that family needs grace." She replied firmly, "That family needs casseroles," and proceeded to organize the entire neighborhood into bringing that family dinner, in shifts, every single night, for an entire year. I do not know if my sister fully recognizes that this IS grace.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

A good-enough novel violently written now is better than a perfect novel meticulously written never.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

All I could say was, "I don't know what to do." I remember her taking me by the shoulders and looking me in the eye with a calm smile and saying simply, "Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

All too often, those of us who choose to remain childless are accused of being somehow unwomanly or unnatural or selfish, but history teaches us that there have always been women who went through life without having babies.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

Also, I could finally sleep. And this was the real gift, because when you cannot sleep, you cannot get yourself out of the ditch--there's not a chance.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Ours is an entertainment seeking-nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.... This is the cause of that great sad American stereotype-the overstressed executive who goes on vacation, but who cannot relax.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

And always remember that people's judgements about you are none of your business.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

And at the end of your days, you can thank creativity for having blessed you with a charmed, interesting, passionate existence.

— Elizabeth Gilbert