Eat, Pray, Love Author Lectures on the Finer Points of Rationalization

Globetrotter, soul-seeker and author of Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert landed at Big Think to share her thoughts on love, sexuality, marriage, and intimacy. When we asked her for the best piece of advice she ever received, she particularly shined.

The following nugget came from Gilbert’s mother, who counseled young mothers at a planned parenthood clinic.

“Try to remember 10 years from now when you’re second-guessing this decision that you made the very best decision that you could make on this day with the information that you had on this day…

Don’t abuse yourself later for what you didn’t know. It just strikes me as so compassionate and it’s such an easy thing to forget, because, if you’re like me, you spend a lot of your life in sort of  retrospective regret for things you wish you had known at the time.”