Wednesday Wisdom from City of Girls

Posted July 8, 2020 by elzaread in Wednesday Wisdom / 7 Comments

It is cold and dreadful where we are today. Perfect time to reflect and wallow in a bit of wisdom. What better wisdom than that we get from books. Not necessarily the text book types either. The good old novel has proven to be some of the best sources of wisdom since the dawn of the printing press. 


One my latest Sunday Post, I’ve posted the following message: we should all just learn to let the little things that make big holes in our relationship nets, go. Have patience with each other, count every hour and remember every day is present. Open it and use it wisely. Somewhere I’ve hit a nerve or two, I’ve received so many responses on that passage. I couldn’t help to be reminded about a couple of quotes from City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

We are still on our travels and unlike my dearest kitten who believes she is the cleverest creation in forever, I would have loved to believe that I am wise beyond words, but alas. I just manage to say things in not such a beautiful way as some authors can do. Elizabeth Gilbert can say what I am trying to say, magnificently. I hope you enjoy these and may you stop for a second and just reflect on some of these. I think they are rather appropriate to our current events. 

The world truly is always changing and we do tend to find ourselves in similar situations as those who came before us. Sometimes it’s just the dates, decades and centuries that differ. Human behavior and how we react to our given circumstances, remain a constant. 


“Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are.”

“The world ain’t straight. You grow up thinking things are a certain way. You think there are rules. You think there’s a way that things have to be. You try to live straight. But the world doesn’t care about your rules, or what you believe. The world ain’t straight, Vivian. Never will be. Our rules, they don’t mean a thing. The world just happens to you sometimes, is what I think. And people just gotta keep moving through it, best they can.”

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

“In my experience, this is the hardest lesson of them all. 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.”


“Let us not become so cautious that we forget to live.”

“The field of honor is a painful field…(It) is not a place where children can play. Children don’t have any honor, you see, and they aren’t expected to, because it’s too difficult for them. It’s too painful. 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.”


Have your read City of Girls? Did I miss any quotes that stood out for you? Please share them with me!

Hope you will have a wonderful Wednesday and may you wallow in wisdom the rest of the week.


Lots of love, 

Mareli 



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7 responses to “Wednesday Wisdom from City of Girls

  1. I love this quote! "After a certain age, we are all walking around this world in bodies made of secrets and shame and sorrow and old, unhealed injuries."

    • Thank you Deb! I appreciate it! I'll play around a bit and try to make it a weekly feature. I love searching for the quotes and just remembering the book as I search.

    • Hi Marge, I also enjoyed The Signature of all things. Elizabeth Gilbert is a strong writer and I think she can tell any story in a unique way.