"But, ancient Greece and ancient Rome - people did not happen to believe that creativity came from human beings back then, OK? People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source, for distant and unknowable reasons"

In this quote, Elizabeth Gilbert is discussing the beliefs of ancient civilizations, particularly ancient Greece and ancient Rome, concerning imagination. She explains that during this time, people did not think that imagination was a trait possessed by human beings. Instead, they believed that creativity was a magnificent force that came to people from a strange and unreachable source. This magnificent force was viewed as a companion or guide that would influence and affect people to produce. Gilbert recommends that this belief in a higher power as the source of imagination was prevalent in ancient times, and it was not up until later on that human beings began to take credit for their own innovative abilities.