Hugh MacLeod:

I'm not the world's most talented person at what I do.  Neither are you.  That doesn't make the gifts we have any less valid.

Evil Plans, p. 174

Tonetta Landis:

Remember Essex [Hemphill].  Refuse to die by your own hands.  Celebrate that you have made it here without being completely broken.  Celebrate this with champagne.  Acknowledge that you need others critically.  Become powerful through laughter and vulnerability and kisses.

From "Battle Hymn: A Queer Christian's Guide to More Than Survival"

Sarah Schulman:

When people refuse to discuss why they are shunning you, when they give no reason and have no terms of reconciliation, it is because to actually talk about it would be to reveal their own behavior.  And their power lies in the ability to command silence about their own behavior.  They can only pretend to be neutral if the mechanics of the moment are not discussed.  Once sequence and substance are laid out starkly, their responsibility is revealed.  Hence, no conversation.

Ties That Bind, p. 122-123

Eric Fromm:

The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton, identical with millions of other automatons around him, need not feel alone and anxious any more. But the price he pays, however, is high; it is the loss of his self.

Escape from Freedom

Steve Jobs:

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Frank Schaeffer:

Sacrificing-For-The-Lord was a pride-filled way of life.  No owner of a new home, car, or yacht was ever prouder of his or her venal material possessions than we Schaeffers were of not achieving our fondest dreams.

Sex, Mom, and God, p. 25

Hugh MacLeod:

I never hated a job because of what it took from me -- all jobs take a lot from you, especially the best ones.  I hated a job because it never allowed me to give enough to the world.

Evil Plans, p. 174

June Jordan:

Consequently, most of us really exist at the mercy of other people's formulations of what's important.

Tonetta Landis:

Consider that some things are more important than stain-glassed certainty.  Like humility.  Like bent knees.  Like a beckoning to do more than survive.  Like a beckoning to embrace mystery and to become fertile ground.

From "Battle Hymn: A Queer Christian's Guide to More Than Survival"

Sarah Schulman:

People who have acted fairly have nothing to hide and therefore don't.

Ties That Bind, p. 114

Aldous Huxley:

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

Steve Jobs:

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.