50 Elizabeth Gilbert Quotes That Will Help You Find Your Power

By Sckylar Gibby-Brown | Published June 30, 2022

Author, journalist, and world-adventurer, Elizabeth Gilbert has inspired countless people across the world by sharing her experiences through her writing.

We hope that these Elizabeth Gilbert quotes inspire you, too.

Elizabeth Gilbert grew up on her family’s Christmas tree farm in the 1970s.

She studied political science in college and then spent the latter part of her twenties traveling the world and working odd jobs to pay the bills.

She is best known for her memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, published in 2006, which became a Hollywood hit in 2010, starring Julia Roberts.

Gilbert’s novels are critically acclaimed and her memoir earned her a spot on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Inspirational People in the World list.

The following list of Elizabeth Gilbert quotes on love, life, and happiness will inspire you to live your best and most creative life.

Don’t forget to also check out these Iyanla Vanzant quotes from the best selling author.

If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation.

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes about love and relationships

1. “To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Living a balanced life is important. This means that we are taking into consideration all the things that make up our lives: relationships, careers, health, and emotional well-being. Living a balanced life doesn’t mean each of these things gets equal attention all the time, but rather you devote your focus to the area of immediate need, while not forgetting about the rest. So if love comes and you lose that balance for a minute, it is ok. Love is powerful and should set you a little off kilter!

2. “We must take care of our families, wherever we find them.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes to helping others

Everyday Application: Family is not just about blood. Family is about support, love, and honesty. It is about the knowing the people who will love you unconditionally and have your back. Whether they are our blood or our created family, we should give them back the same care they give us!

3. “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.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: What do you think a soul mate is? Do you think they really exist? Elizabeth is on to something here about a soulmate’s ability to inspire us to be better people. I think Dawson’s Creek said it best: It’s one person who knew you, accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would.

4. “This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes that will encourage you

Everyday Application: When love ends it can leave our heart in tatters. However, the fact that our heart is broken means we were able to be open and vulnerable, giving parts of ourselves away, and looking out someone else. It means that we experienced love to begin with. We tried for something beautiful and worth the pain.

5. “In desperate love, we always invent the characters of our partners, demanding they be what we need of them, and then feeling devastated when they refuse to perform the role we created in the first place.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Wise and inspirational Elizabeth Gilbert quotes

Everyday Application: Desperate love and mature love are different. We have to love someone for who they are and not the people we need them to be. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t motivate and inspire your partner to be their best selves. However, it does mean that you can not force someone to change for you and then be upset when they do not want to be the person you think they should be.

6. “Having a baby is like having a tattoo on your face. You kind of want to be committed.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Make sure that when you are ready to make big commitments that you do so with a clear head and open heart. Parenting is a life long, and often thankless, labor of love that will have you experiencing every emotion possible over the course of a lifetime!

7. “Real, sane, mature love—the kind that pays the mortgage year after year and picks up the kids after school—is not based on infatuation but on affection and respect.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Recognize that there is power and passion in this type of mature love. It isn’t boring, but rather it is strong and built to last. Affection and respect, along with communication, sacrifice, and empathy, are essential in a long term relationship. However, trying to spice things up isn’t a bad idea, either!

8. “A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Not every love of your life is meant to be THE love of your life. People come into our lives with different purposes. We have to be open to the idea that nothing is permanent and love to the fullest extent in the moment.

9. “Yet I can tell you that there was a lonely and untenanted corner of my heart that I’d never known was there—and Frank moved right into it. Holding him in my heart made me feel like I belonged to love itself.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Know yourself. Be aware of who you are and what you feel. Love yourself and the rest will follow. Then, when you have reached this place, don’t be afraid to love someone else and let them in!

10. “I fell in love with him, and it made no sense for me to fall in love with him. We could not possibly have been more different. But maybe that’s where love grows best—in the deep space that exists between polarities.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: They say opposites attract, and there is clearly some truth to that. Part of the reason for this that we experience excitement when we have relationships with people who balance us out. You do still need to try and understand your partner and treat them with respect though!

11. “Love is like that is a deep well with steep sides. Once you fall in, that’s it. You will love that person always.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Love is one of the deepest feelings we can express. That love you have might change over time. You might even find yourself trying to hate someone you once loved. However, you will be forever changed by the love you felt for them once. This doesn’t mean you can’t move on from a break up. Check out this article for ways to cope if you are feeling heartbroken.

12. “When the karma of a relationship is done, only love remains. It’s safe. Let go.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of karma quotes about what goes around & comes around in our life.

13. “Nothing will uproot your life more violently than true love—at least as far as I’ve always witnessed.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Love makes people do crazy things. The lengths we go to for the people we love has the power to uproot our lives. You might move away from your home and leave your career for someone you love. What is the craziest thing you have done for love?

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes on happiness

14. “Not many people know how to be satisfied.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Another way to think about satisfaction is gratitude. It is ok to want to improve, achieve more, or be the best version of you. However, while you are working on those things you can be satisfied with what you have now. Be grateful for the things you have in the present. Don’t get caught up in desires of the future.

15. “We call it ‘dolce far niente’, the sweetness of doing nothing.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: There are lots of negative connotations about “doing nothing.” However, there are actually a few benefits to doing nothing! Doing nothing allows your subconscious to expand which can boost your creativity. It also gives you the space to be more self-aware and figure out if there are any feelings or problems you have been burying.

16. “I found that eating alone by the window in a quiet restaurant is one of life’s greatest secret pleasures.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Sometimes, we all just need a little alone time to process things. Even the most extroverted of us can learn to enjoy the quietness of our own company. People watching is also an interesting way to pass the time.

17. “We don’t realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

18. “We search for happiness everywhere, but we are like Tolstoy’s fabled beggar who spent his life sitting on a pot of gold, under him the whole time. Your treasure–your perfection–is within you already. But to claim it, you must leave the buy commotion of the mind and abandon the desires of the ego and enter into the silence of the heart.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Happiness is not some external ‘thing.’ It is not a matter of how much stuff you have. Happiness is an internal state, and it is a choice. There are several behaviors that can help you be happier like gratitude, focusing on the positive, and not getting caught up in what other people think. There was a meme that had a thought bubble above a man’s head. He was yelling “I want happiness.” Then a monk came and took the bubble down. He told him to remove ‘I’ because that is your ego. Remove the word want because that is desire. All that was left then is happiness.

19. “I wondered, ‘Why have I been chasing happiness my whole life when bliss was here the entire time?‘” — Elizabeth Gilbert

20. “The more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing, the higher your life’s achievement.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

21. “Do not apologize for crying. Without this emotion, we are only robots.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Crying is a uniquely human method to dealing with powerful emotions. Did you know, there are actually health benefits to crying? These benefits are both physical and mental. Check out this article for more about the power of our tears.

22. “Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

23. “The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: What uniquely you thing is buried deep within you? How can you find it? Listen to your the things that excite you and make you feel alive. Pay attention to what makes you curious. Don’t define your worth by someone else’s opinion of you. What ‘strange jewel’ will you unearth?

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes about life

24. “After a certain age, time just drizzles down upon your head like rain in the month of March: you’re always surprised at how much of it can accumulate, and how fast.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

25. “At some point in a woman’s life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

26. “Sometimes it’s just true that other people have better ideas for your life than you do.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

27. “Lucky is the soul whose only troubles are self-inflicted.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

28. But to become an adult, one must step into the field of honor. Everything will be expected of you now. You will need to be vigilant in your principles. Sacrifices will be demanded. You will be judged. If you make mistakes, you must account for them. There will be instances when you must cast aside your impulses and take a higher stance than another person – a person without honor – might take. Such an instance may hurt, but that’s why honor is a painful field.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

29. “The world is always changing. Learn how to allow for it.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

30. “When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person’s body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes to motivate you

31. “Never has it felt more important for me to tell stories of joy and abandon, passion, and recklessness. Life is short and difficult, people. We must take our pleasures where we can find them. Let us not become so cautious that we forget to live.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes about faith

32. “If faith were rational, it wouldn’t be – by definition – faith. Faith is the belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

33. “There is a reason they call God a presence – because God is right here, right now. In the present is the only place to find Him, and now is the only time.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

34. “Om Namah Shivaya, meaning, I honor the divinity that resides within me.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

35. “You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

36. “I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the ‘monkey mind’ — the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

37. “It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainment.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert quotes about finding your power

38. “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.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

39. “You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

40. “Done is better than good.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Always do your best is fantastic advice. We should give our best efforts to the work we do. However, perfectionism can be a hinderance to progress. If you don’t finish something because the draft, idea, or version you have is not perfect or good enough then remember: Done is better than good.

41. “The work wants to be made, and it wants to be made through you.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

42. “The world just happens to you sometimes, is what I think. And people just gotta keep moving through it, best they can.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

43. “After a certain age, we are all walking around this world in bodies made of secrets and shame and sorrow and old, unhealed injuries. Our hearts grow sore and misshapen around all this pain – yet somehow, still, we carry on.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

More Elizabeth Gilbert quotes

44. “She was of the mind that people should make their own decisions about their own lives if you can imagine such a preposterous thing.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

45. “If you clear out all of that space in your mind you would have a doorway.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

46. “When something ends, let it end.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Everyday Application: Nothing is permanent, and everything has a time where it ends. That is ok. Find a way to enjoy every moment of what you have right now. And when the time comes relish the good times, and give yourself permission to move on. In some cases, you might be able to fight and cling to something, but why? Maybe you need to let it go, so you can get to the next phase of life.

47. “When women are gathered together with no men around, they don’t have to be anything in particular; they can just be.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

48. “As smoking is to the lungs, so is resentment to the soul; even one puff is bad for you.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

49. “Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

50. “When I was younger, I had wanted to be at the very center of all the action in New York, but I slowly came to realize that there is no one center. The center is everywhere – wherever people are living out their lives. It’s a city with a million centers.” — Elizabeth Gilbert