People universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.
– from Eat, Pray, Love book by Elizabeth Gilbert
Tag: Quotes by Elizabeth Gilbert
Critics cannot make someone a star …
Critics cannot make someone a star. Box-office receipts cannot make someone a star. Mere excellence cannot make someone a star. What makes someone a star is when the people decide to love you en masse. When people are willing to line up at the stage door for hours after a show just to catch a glimpse – that makes you a star.
– from City of Girls book by Elizabeth Gilbert
I don’t like New York. It’s …
I don’t like New York. It’s a city full of second-place winners.
– from City of Girls book by Elizabeth Gilbert
Having a baby is like getting …
Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it’s what you want before you commit.
– from Eat, Pray, Love book by Elizabeth Gilbert
We must get our hearts broken …
We must get our hearts broken sometimes. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.
– from Eat, Pray, Love book by Elizabeth Gilbert
Possessing a creative mind, after all …
Possessing a creative mind, after all, is something like having a border collie for a pet: It needs to work, or else it will cause you an outrageous amount of trouble. Give your mind a job to do, or else it will find a job to do, and you might not like the job it invents.
– from Big Magic book by Elizabeth Gilbert