My husband is not American. He was born in Brazil, where he grew up under a filthy, corrupt dictatorship. In his twenties, he moved to Europe, where he lived for a while under various socialist democracies. He spent a few years on a kibbutz in Israel, living out a utopian experiment in communal existence.
Elizabeth GilbertI have searched frantically for contentment for so many years in so many ways, and all the acquisitions and accomplishments- they run you down in the end.
Elizabeth GilbertMy work is incredibly important to me personally. It brings me joy and it brings me life and it brings me meaning. It doesn't necessarily have to be important to the people who read it.
Elizabeth GilbertYou know, itโs the same thing as the question of free will and destiny, the question of creativity - you, the artist, youโre not the puppet of the piano, youโre not the puppet of the muse, but youโre not its master, either. Itโs a relationship, itโs a conversation, and all it wants is to be treated with respect and dignity - and it will return ten thousand times over.
Elizabeth GilbertIl bel far niente means 'the beauty of doing nothing'... [it] has always been a cherished Italian ideal. The beauty of doing nothing is the goal of all your work, the final accomplishment for which you are most highly congratulated. The more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing, the higher your life's achievement. You don't necessarily need to be rich in order to experience this, either.
Elizabeth Gilbert