Frank Schaeffer:

Believing that those who disagree with you are your persecutors leads to fear, and fear leads to hate.

Sex, Mom, and God, p. 99

Susan Cain:

The introverted writer Marcel Proust called reading "that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude."  And studies suggest that reading makes people more empathetic and improves social skills by helping us better understand our fellow humans.

"Secrets of a super successful introvert"

John Shore:

Asking the fundamentalist to apply logic to his or her belief system is like asking a cat to fetch your slippers.  Not going to happen.

"Fundamentalists: Problem solved!"

Sarah Schulman:

Oppression is both informative about the powerful other and infantilizing about the self.

Ties That Bind, p. 153

Ed Wynn:

Comics say funny things [Bob Hope] and comedic actors say things funny [Jack Benny].

Larry King:

No president has ever been scrutinized like Obama is on the Internet.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Clinton weren't judged by the minute.

Truth Be Told, p. 143

Justin Lee:

We're all normal, and none of us are.

"What every woman wants.  Or not."

Frank Schaeffer:

The male pastor is just a necessary figurehead kept there by smart, sincere women whose only creative outlet is their religion because religion is all they were ever allowed to "do" with a clear conscience, other than have babies.

Sex, Mom, and God, p. 30

Susan Cain:

Science tells us that social connections make us happier and healthier, and science is right.  But there are different kinds of social connection.  Reading, for instance, can be a deeply social act, putting you inside other people's minds.

"Secrets of a super successful introvert"

Sarah Schulman:

As my grandmother, Dora Leibling Yevish, used to say, "The Germans will never forgive the Jews for the Holocaust."  In other words, when one person hurts you, they hate you more because you know what they are really like.

Ties That Bind, p. 114

Annie Dillard:

A pile of decent work behind him, no matter how small, fuels the writer's hope, too; his pride emboldens and impels him.

The Writing Life, p. 15

Ricky Martin:

When we began to work on the issue of human trafficking, one of the obstacles we had to face is that it's such a colossal and brutal problem that it is often hard to get people to pay attention.  It's like looking directly at a battlefield.  It is so painful that people are inclined to turn their gaze elsewhere.

Me, p. 196-197

Larry King:

Musicians are always giving us gifts.  One of the best is that they can bring us back in time and make us feel young again.

Truth Be Told, p. 49

Frank Schaeffer:

The New Atheists' arguments make sense only as attacks on religion.  There's plenty to attack.  But who says religion as practiced today, let alone as "revealed" in holy books, has anything to do with an actual Creator?

Sex, Mom, and God, p. 84

Wendy Gritter:

Living as incarnational people among our neighbors, including those who are very different than we are and those on the margins, embodies a sense of mutuality.  Incarnational people don't "help" others - they identify with them.  Incarnational people don't consider what others deserve - they extend dignity and respect to them simply on the basis of our shared image-bearing of God.  Incarnational people remember the words of Desmond Tutu, "If I diminish you ... I diminish myself."  And so they live in a manner that is relationally present and open to all they come in contact with.

"Confronting Straight Privilege"

Jon Stewart:

Democrats always seem to have to prove to America that they love America.  Republicans love America.  They just seem to hate about 50 percent of the people who live in it.

Sarah Schulman:

The final ironic twist is that whenever a situation does arise in which homophobia is pointed to as being socially destructive or personally wrong, the homophobe tends to actually blame his own behavior on gay people themselves.

Ties That Bind, p. 26

Annie Dillard:

On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away.

The Writing Life, p. 14

Ricky Martin:

We come from a society that tells us that just because of their religion, people are good or bad.  We load ourselves up with prejudices and cultural stigmas that are based on what?  On nothing.  We have been taught to fear anyone who is different from us...  Why?  Because of sheer ignorance.

Me, p. 168

Linford Detweiler:

As for your tender heart, this world's gonna break it wide open; it ain't gonna be pretty, but you're not alone.

"All My Favorite People"

Frank Schaeffer:

To reject portions of the Bible is not necessarily to reject God or even the essence of Christianity.  A great deal of the Bible is contradicted by the Love that predates it and, more importantly, survives in you and me.  And that Love edits the Bible for us.

Sex, Mom, and God, p. 87

Desmond Tutu:

If I diminish you ... I diminish myself.

Sarah Schulman:

Success is opportunity at one's level of merit.  More than that is privilege, less is deprivation.

Ties That Bind, p. 169

Larry King:

Lenny [Bruce]'s humor was really about the way he used his intelligence to turn the world upside down so it could be seen clearly.

Truth Be Told, p. 204

Soren Kierkegaard:

Christ turned water into wine, but the church has succeeded in doing something even more difficult: it has turned wine into water.

Ricky Martin:

Even though I felt I had lost hope, everything in my life was aligning to bring me to this exact point of desperation in order to incite me to ask questions and find answers I would have never imagined.

Me, p. 160