You know the old adage: Plant an expectation, reap a disappointment.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
To devote yourself to the creation and enjoyment of beauty, then, can be a serious business-not always necessarily a means of escaping reality, but sometimes a means of holding on to the real when everything is flaking away into... rhetoric and plot.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Engaging with beauty is a meaningful pursuit that can help us connect with reality amid chaos.
This quote by Elizabeth Gilbert emphasizes the importance of beauty in our lives, suggesting that our devotion to its creation and appreciation is not merely a distraction from reality, but rather a vital way to maintain our grip on the true essence of life. In times when the world feels overwhelming or artificial, embracing beauty can ground us, providing a deeper understanding of what is real and significant.
Themes
BeautyCreationRealityAppreciationLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about art therapy, one might say, 'As Elizabeth Gilbert beautifully points out, engaging with beauty helps us hold onto reality amidst chaos.'
More from Elizabeth Gilbert
All quotes →Do not apologize for crying. Without this emotion, we are only robots.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
I had always been taught that the pursuit of happiness was my natural (even national) birthright. It is the emotional trademark of my culture to seek happiness. Not just any kind of happiness, either, but profound happiness, even soaring happiness. And what could possibly bring a person more soaring happiness than romantic love.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
When I tried this morning, after an hour or so of unhappy thinking, to dip back into my meditation, I took a new idea with me: compassion. I asked my heart if it could please infuse my soul with a more generous perspective on my mind's workings. Instead of thinking that I was a failure, could I perhaps accept that I am only a human being--and a normal one, at that?
Elizabeth GilbertRead
And when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt - this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life no matter how slight.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilling yearnings.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
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