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Elizabeth Gilbert On Marriage

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When I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, it felt like I was spending time with a very good friend, a friend who just so happened to be telling me the story of her adventure to three very different places. I felt like I had gotten to know her so well that I actually felt a pang of sadness when I finished the book and no longer had her around. Luckily enough, I recently found out that she has written a new book, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage. She talks about the book and about marriage in this interview, and I found something she said to be very eloquently stated (and not just because she mentions Britney Spears either).

“Marriage is not a game for the young. One lesson that Britney can teach us is: Don’t get married when you’re 20 years old, for reasons I am certain I do not need to explain. Maturity brings–among other things–the ability to sustain and survive enormous contradictions and disappointments. Marriage is–among other things–a study in contradiction and disappointment, and inside that reality there is space for us to truly learn how to love. But it is wise to check at least a few of our most idealistic youthful dreams at the door before entering.” –Elizabeth Gilbert

Last modified: January 10, 2019