John Steinbeck:

A good writer always works at the impossible.

Anne Lamott:

Tell the truth as you understand it. If you're a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this.

Bird by Bird, p. 226

Mary Pipher:

Writers help readers construct larger, more expansive frames of reference so that more of the world can be more accurately perceived.

Writing to Change the World, p. 8

Martin Luther King Jr.:

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

William Stafford:

A writer coasts into action with willing involvement, always ready for something to happen that may be a first time, not a repetition of something already accomplished.

Writing the Australian Crawl, p. 52

Duane Elgin:

The character of a society is the cumulative result of countless small actions, day in and day out, of millions of people.

Anne Lamott:

If something inside you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal.

Bird by Bird, p. 226

Mary Pipher:

Good writing enlarges readers' knowledge of the world, or empowers readers to act for the common good, or even inspires other good writing.

Writing to Change the World, p. 7

Philo of Alexandria:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.

William Stafford:

The action of writing, for instance, is the successive discovery of cumulative epiphanies in the self's encounter with the world.

Writing the Australian Crawl, p. 51

Buckminster Fuller:

What can I do that isn't going to get done unless I do it, just because of who I am?

Anne Lamott:

Don't be afraid of your material or your past.

Bird by Bird, p. 226

Mary Pipher:

Good writing facilitates the making of connections in a way that inspires openheartedness, thinking, talking, and action. All totalitarian governments achieve their ends by frightening and isolating people, and by preventing honest public discussion of important matters. The way to promote social and economic justice is by doing just the opposite: by telling the truth, and by encouraging civil, public discussion.

Writing to Change the World, p. 7

William Stafford:

In art, one at a time, experiences contribute their immediate, felt existence: one reads a house, a scene, a room, a space, a sequence, etc. In writing, for instance, the quality of the work and its effects on the feelings are welcomed at once. One does the documentary of what is happening -- the whole orchestration including the personal reaction -- while the activity is happening. The feel of our lives, instead of being disregarded or slighted, is accepted as important.

Writing the Australian Crawl, p. 49

Alex Haley:

Every death is like the burning of a library.

Anne Lamott:

Becoming a writer is about becoming conscious.

Bird by Bird, p. 225

Mary Pipher:

A writer's job is to tell stories that connect readers to all the people on earth, to show these people as the complicated human beings they really are, with histories, families, emotions, and legitimate needs. We can replace one-dimensional stereotypes with multidimensional individuals with whom our readers can identify.

Writing to Change the World, p. 6

Michael Jackson:

I believe that all art has -- as its ultimate goal -- the union between the material and the spiritual; the human and the divine. I believe that to be the reason for the very existence of art.

Oprah Winfrey Interview, 1993

Oliver Wendell Holmes:

The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of bigger ideas, never returns to its original size.

William Stafford:

...what people say -- the people around us -- floods our attention and then passes; it alerts us, now and then jiggles our feelings or provides a sigh or a laugh, or a combination...The everyday talk around us throbs waxing and waning interest and possibility.

Writing the Australian Crawl, p. 35

Anne Frank:

How wonderful it is that no one has to wait, but can start right now to gradually change the world.

"Give"

Anne Lamott:

Writing takes a combination of sophistication and innocence; it takes conscience, our belief that something is beautiful because it's right. To be great, art has to point somewhere...This sophisticated innocence is a gift. It is yours to give away.

Bird by Bird, p. 205-206

Mary Pipher:

Once we have a label that doesn't fit us, we can ignore the humanity of the labeled. Part of our responsibility as writers is to tell stories that make such erasures impossible.

Writing to Change the World, p. 6