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Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert Quotes

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Famous Elizabeth Gilbert Quotes

“All of women's stories in the 19th century had either one of two endings: you either had the good Jane Austen marriage at the end and you were happy; or you had the terrible Henry James savage downfall because of your own hubris as a woman, or you've made some great error leading you down a path to ruin. One is the story of love that's successful and the other is the story usually of reckless love that goes terribly wrong that destroys the woman.”

MadeTwoEndsStoriesPathSuccessfulCenturyTerribleErrorsRuinsSavagesJaneReckless19th CenturyDownfallHubrisAusten
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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“We all have love stories that go terribly wrong; we all have horribly broken hearts. And somehow we endure. We're not destroyed by it. We endure and go on to do interesting things and have worthy lives, even though we carry our heartbreaks with us. That's a kind of personal story of mine that I don't think I would tell in memoir but I do think I can tell in fiction.”

ThinkingHeartKindI CanStoriesInterestingFictionMinesBrokenGoes OnEndureWorthyLove StoryMemoirDestroyedInteresting ThingsPersonal Stories
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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“Moss grows where nothing else can grow. It grows on bricks. It grows on tree bark and roofing slate. It grows in the Arctic Circle and in the balmiest tropics; it also grows on the fur of sloths, on the backs of snails, on decaying human bones. ... It is a resurrection engine. A single clump of mosses can lie dormant and dry for forty years at a stretch, and then vault back again into life with a mere soaking of water.”

YearsHumansLyingGrowsWaterTreeMereBonesCirclesDryFortyBiologyEnginesResurrectionBricksFurBarkBack AgainSlothMossSlateArcticDormantSnailVaultsSoakingTropicsRoofing
Book:The Signature of All Things
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“I think that if you can roast a chicken, you can get whatever you want out of a woman. Maybe it's just me but I would suspect that a man trying to impress a woman would be more likely to bring out the steak - "I killed this for you, now I'm grilling it for you."... A man that can cook you a proper meal that is like a weekday meal - which I think cannot be better than in the form of a roast chicken - that's the greatest.”

IfsThinkingMenWantTryingWould BeFormCooksMealsChickensSuspectsImpressSteakGrillingWeekdaysRoast Chicken
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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“What I object to is the hyper-fetishized wedding day, the prioritizing of wedding over marriage. I have a real problem with couples spending far more time discussing the seating arrangement or the color of the bridesmaid's gowns than hashing out, for instance, their feelings about how they intend to handle questions of housework, child-rearing, finances and fidelity for the next four or five decades.”

ChildrenRealFeelingsProblemNextFiveFourObjectsColorCoupleSpendingDecadesHandleFinanceInstanceMore TimeArrangementsFidelityDiscussingReal ProblemsHouseworkGownsHyperPrioritizeChild RearingWedding DayBridesmaids
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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“Modern marriage is first and foremost a romantic and private union, but the tax laws and inheritance laws and religious implications that still surround this institution indicate that marriage has evolved without casting away its earlier purposes or assumptions. It's like we just keep building on this thing, piling new advancements on the old model.”

FirstsStillsLawPurposeReligiousModernBuildingTaxesModelsInstitutionsUnionsAssumptionSurroundCastingInheritanceAdvancementImplicationsModern Marriage
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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“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, cockeyed 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. I believe this and I feel that we must teach it. 'Ole!' to you, nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.”

IfsFeelsBelieveHumansMomentsShowsMightJobsI BelieveEffortTeachCasesPiecesDivineGeniusJust OneSheerStubbornnessShowing UpHuman Love
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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