"You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify. And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds, but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?"
About this Quote
The subtext is both mystical and practical. By refusing to "honestly" identify the source, she makes room for uncertainty without turning it into pathology. In a culture that treats inspiration like proof of worth, the unnameable becomes dangerous: if you can’t explain it, you might fear you’re a fraud, or worse, unstable. Gilbert names that fear directly - "lose our minds" - then offers her real agenda: a mental-health frame for artistic life. The question isn’t whether the mystery is real; it’s how to build a relationship with mystery that doesn’t crush you.
Context matters: Gilbert’s work and public persona sit in a post-Eat, Pray, Love ecosystem where creativity is marketed as self-actualization, yet creators are expected to produce endlessly, publicly, and alone. Her rhetorical move is to externalize the pressure. Call it God, subconscious, sparks, or sheer accident - the label is secondary. The psychological relief is primary: if inspiration is a guest, not your identity, you can welcome it when it arrives and survive when it doesn’t.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Your Elusive Creative Genius (Elizabeth Gilbert, 2009)
Evidence:
You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify. And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds, but, in fact, might actually keep us sane? (Transcript, around lines 64-66; delivered at TED2009 on February 5, 2009). This quote is verifiably from Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk "Your elusive creative genius," posted by TED in February 2009 and delivered at TED2009 in Long Beach, California. TED's conference materials and TED Blog place her talk at TED2009 on February 5, 2009, which is the earliest primary-source publication/speaking instance I could verify. A transcript reproducing the exact wording appears in a TED-hosted version and in mirrored transcript pages. The wording on transcript mirrors also shows a close variant in the preceding sentence: some copies read "But even I, in my mulishness, even I have brushed up against that thing, at times." This quote does not appear to originate first in a book; it appears to have been spoken in the 2009 TED talk and only later circulated on quote sites. Supported by TED conference and speaker pages and transcript mirrors. ([ted.com](https://www.ted.com/speakers/elizabeth_gilbert?utm_source=openai)) |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gilbert, Elizabeth. (2026, March 9). You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify. And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds, but, in fact, might actually keep us sane? FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-know-even-i-have-had-work-or-ideas-come-150577/
Chicago Style
Gilbert, Elizabeth. "You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify. And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds, but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?" FixQuotes. March 9, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-know-even-i-have-had-work-or-ideas-come-150577/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify. And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds, but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?" FixQuotes, 9 Mar. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-know-even-i-have-had-work-or-ideas-come-150577/. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
