Hugh MacLeod:

It's not that people don't want you to be successful -- they just don't want you to be successful in ways they aspire to be but cannot be themselves.  That is just human nature, sad but true.

Evil Plans, p. 7

John Shore:

Believe that you have to offer a new perspective, a new modality of perception, a whole new paradigm.  Don't be afraid.  Think boldly.  Write passionately.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

There is a moment for each artist in which a particular truth can be found, and if it is not found then, it will not ever be.

Art & Fear, p. 106

Rachel Held Evans:

We do an injustice to the intricacies and shadings of Christian history when we gloss over the struggles, when we read Paul's epistles or Saint Augustine's Confessions without acknowledging the difficult questions that these believers asked and the agony with which they often asked them.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 219

Chely Wright:

I knew that the only way I could be healthy was to stop hiding and running from the fact that I was gay.

Like Me, p. 220

Larry Brown:

Maybe I make them know more than they want to about the poor, or the unfortunate, or the alcoholic.  But a sensible writer writes what he or she knows best, and draws on the material that's closest, and the lives that are observed.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 51-52

Hugh MacLeod:

It was either love what I do or hate what I do.  I chose the former.

Evil Plans, p. 3

John Shore:

Say what you know other people are thinking -- sometimes before they even know they're thinking it.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

It's easier to paint in the angel's feet to another's masterwork than to discover where the angels live within yourself.

Art & Fear, p. 96-97

Rachel Held Evans:

Doubt is a difficult animal to master because it requires that we learn the difference between doubting God and doubting what we believe about God.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 219

Chely Wright:

When you're gay you realize that, for the most part, a lot of the world hates you without having ever met you.

Like Me, p. 213

Hugh MacLeod:

Change is not death.  Fear of change is death.

Evil Plans, p. 2

John Shore:

Be insanely brave. Real writing is no place for people-pleasers and/or congenital followers.

"Four Critical Points for Writers"

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

In the ideal -- that is to say, real -- artist, fears not only continue to exist, they exist side by side with the desires that complement them, perhaps drive them, certainly feed them.

Art & Fear, p. 50

Rachel Held Evans:

Somewhere along the way, the gospel had gotten buried under a massive pile of extras: political positions, lifestyle requirements, and unspoken rules that for whatever reason came with the Christian territory. Sometimes Jesus himself seemed buried beneath the rubble.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 201

Hugh MacLeod:

Everybody needs an Evil Plan. Everybody needs that crazy, out-there idea that allows them to actually start doing something they love, doing something that matters. Everybody needs an Evil Plan that gets them the hell out of the rat race, away from lousy bosses, away from boring, dead-end jobs that they hate. Life is short.

Evil Plans, p. 1

Garrison Keillor:

A book is a gift you can open again and again.

Chely Wright:

The military places a high value on honor, integrity, honesty, and valor. The policy of "don't ask, don't tell" seems to be the antithesis of those ideals.

Like Me, p. 198

Wayne Dyer:

True nobility isn't about being better than anyone else; it's about being better than you used to be.

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

...the important point here is not that you have -- or don't have -- what other artists have, but rather that it doesn't matter. Whatever they have is something needed to do their work -- it wouldn't help you in your work even if you had it. Their magic is theirs. You don't lack it. You don't need it. It has nothing to do with you. Period.

Art & Fear, p.35

Rachel Held Evans:

My interpretation can be only as inerrant as I am, and that's good to keep in mind.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 195

Portia de Rossi:

It's ironic, really, when all I've ever wanted is to be loved for my true self, and yet I tried so hard to present myself as anything other than who I am.

Unbearable Lightness, p. 304

Lena Horne:

It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.

David Bayles & Ted Orland:

Many people first respond deeply to art -- indeed, respond deeply to the world -- upon finding works of art that seem to speak directly to them.

Art & Fear, p. 102

Peterson Toscano:

Good activism always comes out of good relationships.

"Transgender Rights NOT Simply Gay Rights"

Rachel Held Evans:

Perhaps our love for the Bible should be measured not by how valiantly we fight to convince others of our interpretations but by how diligently we work to preserve a diversity of opinion.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 194

Portia de Rossi:

...any time I try to fit into a mold made by someone else, whether that means sample size clothing or a strict label of "butch" or "femme," I lose myself.

Unbearable Lightness, p. 291