Whether you love Elizabeth Gilbert for her podcast, Magic Lessons, or her many popular books – Eat Pray Love, Big Magic, City of Girls – there’s no denying that she has plenty of wisdom to share. 

Here, we’ve curated sixteen of her most inspiring quotes to ignite the magic within you. Whether you jot these down in your journal or bookmark them for later, these quotes will help you when you need them most.

Inspiring quotes from Elizabeth Gilbert

From Eat Pray Love

• ‘People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.’
• ‘This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.’
• ‘You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control.’
• ‘I think I deserve something beautiful.’
• ‘To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.’

From Committed

• ‘To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow – this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.’ 
• ‘The problem, simply put, is that we cannot choose everything simultaneously. So we live in danger of becoming paralysed by indecision, terrified that every choice might be the wrong choice.’ 
• ‘When you are pushed by circumstance to do the one thing you have always most specifically loathed and feared, this can be, at the very least, an interesting growth opportunity.’

From Big Magic

• ‘Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.’ 
• ‘Be the weirdo who dares to enjoy.’
• ‘The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.’
• ‘Done is better than good.’
• ‘Perfectionism is just fear in fancy shoes and a mink coat.’

From All the Way to the River

• ‘A more fruitful question than “Why me?” could be “How might this terrible situation be perfectly designed to help me to evolve?” Because what if that’s really what it’s all about?’
• ‘We cannot access tomorrow’s wisdom today, much less yesterday. And when wisdom finally does arrive, it often enters our minds through the pain of a lived experience.’
• ‘Dear God – thank you for all that has been given, for all that has been taken away, and for all that remains.’