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.