There’s no trouble in this world so serious that it can’t be cured with a hot bath, a glass of whiskey, and the Book of Common Prayer.
If I could read while I was driving, showering, socializing or sleeping, I would do it.
I’ve always been afraid of saying no to people because I don’t want them to be disappointed and dislike me.
I’m a pleaser. That’s my character.
I think a lot of people who feel as though they desperately want to be married oftentimes simply desperately want to have a wedding.
If I am to truly become an autonomous woman, then I must take over that role of being my own guardian.
I don’t think you can come into your wisdom until you have made mistakes on your own skin and felt them in reality of your own life.
Nobody until very recently would have thought that their husband was supposed to be their best friend, confidante, intellectual soul mate, co-parent, inspiration.
Childlessness doesn’t make people selfish; selfishness makes people selfish.
I have these new policies toward my life, like ‘I will not accelerate when I see the yellow light.’
I was a writer before ‘Eat, Pray, Love,’ and I’ll be a writer after it’s over. It’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Absolute certainty is not something I strive for anymore. I’ve learned the hard way that destiny usually looks upon our most strident convictions with amusement, or perhaps even pity.
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.
We set up one rule in our house, which is, ‘Guests of guests cannot bring guests.’ That rule was required because that happened one weekend, and we finally said, ‘Okay, you know what? That’s a little too much.’
There are times when the only access I have to the truest person that I am is when I’m alone and trying to solve a sentence. It’s exciting, even when it’s frustrating, even when I can’t do it right.
I used to say, ‘Man, I think I’d be a really good dad. I’ll be a great provider. I’m funny; I’ll go on trips with them – I’ll do all sorts of stuff.’ But the momming? I’m not made for that. I have a really good mom; I know what she put into it.
And we have a little herb garden, which survived the winter thanks to global warming. It makes me feel like a cool, old Italian housewife, that I kept my rosemary alive outside all winter.
But when it comes to writing the thing that I’ve sort of been thinking about lately, is why? You know, is it rational? Is it logical that anybody should be expected to be afraid of the work that they feel they were put on this Earth to do.
I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they are not available, I will give you a sun check and a rain check.
A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake.