Wendy Gritter:

Conversation isn't research (at least not first and foremost).  Conversation is about relating, it is about seeing one another's humanity, listening with a commitment to be fully present.  It is connecting to our creativity in opening our minds (where we exercise our intellectual capacity), our souls (the seat of our emotions) and our spirit (where we hear the voice of God).

"'Pray Away the Gay?' a lesson in talking past one another....."

Thomas Jefferson:

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion.  Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

John Shore:

It's typical to think that theology is static and permanent.  It's not, though.  What's true instead is that theology follows sociology.  And slowly but surely we are all becoming members of one big society.  At the very least media generally, and the Internet in particular, has made world travelers, and culture tourists, of us all.

The world is rapidly changing.  And as surely as one day follows the next, Christian theology, as it always has (slavery, anyone?) will change right along with it.  As our world grows smaller, our Christianity will grow larger, broader, and more inclusive.

"The Inevitability of the Rise of Liberal Christianity"

Hugh MacLeod:

A waker reminds you on a constant basis just how alive you really are ... And there's something about their influence that makes you utterly unable to go back to "sleep" ever again, despite your best efforts.

Evil Plans, p. 168

Billy Collins:

Poetry doesn't need to keep up with the news; poetry is the news.  And the news is very simple: Life is beautiful and you are going to die.  Read all about it!

In Conversation with Billy Collins

Rob Tisinai:

The real problem, I think, is that adults are confused. We can add same-sex marriage to the list of things that kids understand easily but many adults do not:  iPods, P2P file sharing, Justin Beiber. But while those grown-ups have to admit iPods do in fact exist, many of them deny same-sex marriage — or even romantic love — can ever happen. So of course kids who find it perfectly natural must be awfully mixed up.

"Confused Adults Find Children Confusing"

Sarah Schulman:

To blame the distress and pain of the gay family member for the infliction of that pain is like blaming someone for ruining your furniture when in fact they bled all over it because you shot them.

Ties That Bind, p. 72

Wendy Gritter:

In my experience, quick reactions just don't make for good bridge-building as they inevitably carry more opinion than reflection.

"'Pray Away the Gay?' a lesson in talking past one another....."

Maya Angelou:

People do what they know to do -- not what you think they should know.

John Shore:

I refuse to relinquish the name "Christian" to people who can't tell the message of Christ from the sound of their own farts.

Hugh MacLeod:

A waker is someone who is very good at waking other people up from their metaphorical slumber, temporary or otherwise ... Being around them or their work just makes you feel more alive, more inspired, more motivated, more awake.

Evil Plans, p. 168

Billy Collins:

I think there is in America a huge, mostly untapped audience for poetry.  Most people don't read poetry because they don't know what poetry is.  Since many of them have had zero contact with poetry since they left school, they have to make up reasons why they don't read it.

"In Conversation with Billy Collins"

Rob Tisinai:

A while back, Bill Clinton said something wonderful about America: “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.” That applies to gay people, too. The most devastating argument in the world is trivial next to our simple, open, matter-of-fact presence.

"Confused Adults Find Children Confusing"

Sarah Schulman:

Frankly, I often find that the myth of the angry lesbian/ angry woman/ angry black man is really the rage of the dominant culture person at being asked to look at themselves.

Ties That Bind, p. 53

Billy at Vandy

I look forward to witnessing 2001-2003 Poet Laureate Billy Collins read his poetry tonight at Vanderbilt University.

Philip Roth:

And there's far less vindictiveness than is imagined on the part of the writer who writes about somebody's secret than just this sort of stupid, childish awe of the human fact of it.  So, it isn't so much that one is pious about one's self or pious about being a writer and say, "Well, I have to be honest."  It's not that at all.  It's you're hypnotized, you're mesmerized, you're fascinated by the thing in itself and you want to present it.

NPR's Fresh Air, May 8, 2000

Sally Field:

It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.

Hugh MacLeod:

"Death by Stuff" is really no way to live.

Evil Plans, p. 161

Sister Lisa Bertolini:

Carrying the light of Jesus should not look like a mob with torches and pitchforks.

Don Lemon:

After all, my life experiences have now taught me there's a bigot in every neighborhood.  Sometimes you fight them with your fists, but mostly you fight them with your grace, your intelligence and your wit.  You fight them by acknowledging them to be the scared little children they are.

Transparent, p. 219

John Shore:

That shame—the great, burning inner shame that every gay and lesbian person is forced to overcome if he or she is ever to claim for themselves the same righteous pride of self that straight people so easily accept as their birthright—should be the shame of everyone who is not today working toward full LGBT acceptance and affirmation. And that holds especially true for Christians, who for far too long have used the Good News of the Gospels to bring nothing but terrible news to homosexuals, who, just like them, want nothing more, and nothing less, than to be loved for who they are.

"Republican Politician Caught with His Gay Pants Down: Whose Shame Is It?"

Sarah Schulman:

To pretend that straight people can keep all their advantages while gay people can be allowed to access them is preposterous ... As history has shown us, when black people can sit in the front of the bus, more white people have to stand.  When jobs open up for women, they become more competitive for men.

Ties That Bind, p. 52

Philip Roth:

There's an awful lot of stupid, childish awe in writers.  People may think that you're trying to reveal their secrets.  You're sort of dumbstruck by their secrets and by your own, of course, too.

NPR's Fresh Air, May 8, 2000

Hugh MacLeod:

The world will ALWAYS conspire to make you less than you are...so decide what you're going to do about it, then act.

Evil Plans, p. 158

St. Thomas Aquinas:

The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Christian, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false.

Don Lemon:

I'm not sure you can really learn to interview.  I think much of it is innate, or comes with learning to be confident enough to shut up and let the silence fall between you and the subject.

Transparent, p. 198

Theodore Roosevelt:

I am a part of everything that I have read.

Meredith Baxter:

I may be the only lesbian you know (although this is quite doubtful) and I am here to dispel, if only to a small degree, whatever fears, misunderstandings, and apprehensions you might have about the threat of a homosexual agenda.  (That idea is amusing.  The only agenda I know of is...leave us alone; don't make choices for us that we wouldn't make for you.)

Untied, p. 282

Sarah Schulman:

Similarly, gay people will never have a full and fair place in the family structure until straight people have less currency, less entitlement, and less power than they currently hold.

Ties That Bind, p. 52

Philip Roth:

There's no novelist worth his or her salt who isn't fascinated by the real and whose job is founded and grounded in this fascination with the real thing.

NPR's Fresh Air, May 8, 2000

Hugh MacLeod:

Interesting destinies rarely come from just reading the instruction manual.

Evil Plans, p. 157