And since creativity is still the most effective way for me to access wonder, I choose it. I choose to block out all the external (and internal) noise and distractions, and to come home again and again to creativity. Because without that source of wonder, I know that I am doomed. Without it, I will forever wander the world in a state of bottomless dissatisfaction—nothing but a howling ghost, trapped in a body made of slowly deteriorating meat

— Elizabeth Gilbert

And we have a little herb garden, which survived the winter thanks to global warming. It makes me feel like a cool, old Italian housewife, that I kept my rosemary alive outside all winter.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

Are you considering becoming a creative person? Too late, you already are one. To even call somebody "a creative person" is almost laughably redundant; creativity is the hallmark of our species. We have the sense for it; we have the curiosity for it; we have the opposable thumbs for it; we have the rhythm for it; we have the language and the excitement and the innate connection to divinity for it. If you're alive, you're a creative person. You and I and everyone you know are descended from tens of thousands of years of makers. Decorators, tinkerers, storytellers, dancers, explorers, fiddlers, drummers, builders, growers, problem-solvers, and embellishes--these are our common ancestors.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

As I focus on diligent joy, I also keep remembering a simple idea my friend Darcy told me once -- that all the sorrow and trouble of this world is caused by unhappy people. Not only in the big global Hitler-'n'-Stalin picture, but also on the smallest personal level. Even in my own life, I can see exactly where my episodes of unhappiness have brought suffering or distress or (at the very least) inconvenience to those around me. The search for contentment is, therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

As someone who struggles with anxiety and cowardice, as we all do, I’m profoundly inspired by. . . . Full-on commitment to wonder, to wonder as a response to anguish or difficulty. It makes everything a puzzle, right? A catastrophe is nothing but a puzzle with the volume of drama turned up very high.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

As the saying goes, "Argue for your limitations, and you get to keep them." Why would I want to keep my limitations?

— Elizabeth Gilbert

At no moment in history has a bright young girl with plenty of food and a good constitution perished from too much learning.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

At no point in history has a bright young girl with plenty of food and a good constitution perished from too much learning.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

At some point, you have to let go, and sit still, and allow contentment to come to you.

— Elizabeth Gilbert

At some point, you really just have to finish your work and release it as is-if only so you can go on and make other things with a glad and determined heart.

— Elizabeth Gilbert