Betty DeGeneres:

When you learn that someone you know is homosexual, you don't know anything about his or her sexual practices.

Love, Ellen, p. 332

Sarah Schulman:

If we really believe that homophobia is wrong, we must act that way.

Ties That Bind, p. 40

Bono:

I don't doubt God.  I have firm faith absolutely in God.  It's religion I'm doubting.

Austin Kleon:

Find  people on the Internet who love the same things as you and connect with them.  Share things with them.

"How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)"

Rachel Held Evans:

When we cling to our beliefs as children cling to their favorite toys, it is hard for Jesus to take us by the hand and lead us somewhere new.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 155

Hugh MacLeod:

Social and personal identity involves a lot of sharing what matters to you most, with those who matter to you most.  We're primates.  We're social.  That's what we do.

Evil Plans, p. 126

Don Lemon:

Sometimes, it's hard to give up something good and take a chance on something better...

Transparent, p. 113

Betty DeGeneres:

Religion should never be an excuse not to love.

Love, Ellen, p. 321

Sarah Schulman:

Most people do what they're told, so tell them something different.  Change the social standard of how gay people are supposed to be treated and most people will change their behavior to follow.

Ties That Bind, p. 40

Barb Johnson:

So, except for the sawdust and heavy lifting, carpentry and writing are practically the same thing.  In addition to a good lie, there's a lot of engineering and architecture in both.  And a consideration for beauty.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 157

Austin Kleon:

The best way to vanquish your enemies on the Internet?  Ignore them.  The best way to make friends on the Internet?  Say nice things about them.

"How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)"

Rachel Held Evans:

The more committed we are to certain theological absolutes, the more likely we are to discount the work of the Spirit when it doesn't conform to our presuppositions.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 155

Hugh MacLeod:

Getting a lot of people to hate you is easy -- all you have to do is become really successful at doing something you love.

Evil Plans, p. 118

Don Lemon:

In the end, secrets hurt me far more than they protected me.  My "secrets" have fooled no one, and in the end did me more harm than good.

Transparent, p. 83

Betty DeGeneres:

Wouldn't it be better if the inordinate energy and money spent by right-wing religious extremists to rant about what others do in the privacy of their own homes could be spent in causes that are actually family-friendly?

Love, Ellen, p. 320

Sarah Schulman:

I believe in, am committed to, and am working toward a cultural agreement that homophobia is a social pathology and that society's best interest is served by any program or practice that mitigates homophobia.  The family is the best place to start because the family is where people first learn its power.  That is why the commitment to eradicating homophobia must begin with the family.

Ties That Bind, p. 26-27

Silas House:

Early on in my writing education, I was told by the great writer James Still that the best thing a writer could do was to "discover something new every day."

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 133

Austin Kleon:

I'd say that 90% of my mentors and peers don't live in Austin, Texas.  They live on the Internet.  Which is to say, most of my thinking and talking and art-related fellowship is online.

"How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)"

Rachel Held Evans:

To be wrong about God is the condition of humanity, for better or for worse.  Sometimes it lures us into questioning God; sometimes it summons us to give him another chance. 

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 119

Hugh MacLeod:

One thing that causes far too much of the proverbial "quiet desperation" in modern society is the relentless pursuit of "having it all."

Evil Plans, p. 107

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross:

It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us.  Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive -- to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.

Betty DeGeneres:

Since many dysfunctional, abusive households have a mother and a father present, it's clear that being heterosexual is not necessarily a qualification for being a good parent.

Love, Ellen, p. 314

Sarah Schulman:

The reason that the existence of homophobia and the practice of homophobes are able to render good, honest, caring, productive, dignified people as pathological is because homophobia itself is the pathology.

Ties That Bind, p. 26

Mickey Maudlin:

As a young evangelical, I was socialized to see the biggest threat to the church as theological liberalism. But now I think the biggest threat is Christian tribalism, where God’s interests are reduced to and measured by those sharing your history, tradition, and beliefs, and where one needs an “enemy” in order for you to feel “right with God.”

News & Pews, "Rob Bell's Hell"

Larry Brown:

I wasted a lot of time writing about things I didn't know anything about, instead of using my natural home and the landscape that creates the lives that are lived here, and the characters who live in my fiction ... You don't know when you start out that there's plenty of life around you, no matter where you live.

Don't Quit Your Day Job, p. 55

Austin Kleon:

People love it when you give your secrets away, and sometimes, if you're smart about it, they'll reward you by buying the things you're selling.

"How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)"

Rachel Held Evans:

The second theme that emerged while reading the Gospels is that, if Jesus is God, then God has not forgotten the downtrodden and oppressed of this world.

Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 104

Voltaire:

Woe to the makers of literal translations, who by rendering every word weaken the meaning!  It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.

Betty DeGeneres:

Love can transform ignorance to understanding and rejection to acceptance.

Love, Ellen, p. 297

Sarah Schulman:

To oppose gay rights sixty years ago, when there was no visible movement, was a very different action than opposing us today.  Knowing gay people, seeing our wish for justice, and saying "No" is a lot meaner than refusing something vague and theoretical.

Ties That Bind, p. 5

Colum McCann:

What is therapy but a form of storytelling?  Storytelling is the great democracy.  We all want to -- need to -- tell our stories.  There is a certain catharsis in being able to tell your story, in confronting your demons.