Hugh MacLeod:

Telling people how great the Internet is is easy.  Everybody knows that already.  The hard part is knowing that the ball is in your court, knowing that now you have this AMAZING tool, knowing that there are no more excuses.  So now you have to go and make stuff.  The Internet can't do that for you; the Internet can only remove certain obstacles.  And it already did that.  A long time ago.  The Internet has made it so that we have no choice but to be creative.

Freedom Is Blogging in Your Underwear, p. 110

Laurence Musgrove:

Reading is really the search for the self through others.

Rita Mae Brown:

No one knows the whole truth.  But each of us knows a shredded tatter of it.  The writer must convey that to you or the culture begins to fray.  In order for any society, culture or civilization to breathe or grow it must breathe freely.  That's my job and the job of every one of us who attempts to write.

Rita Will, p. x-xi

Austin Kleon:

Remember "garbage in, garbage out"?  You're only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with.  In the digital space, that means following the best people online -- the people who are way smarter and better than you, the people who are doing the really interesting work.  Pay attention to what they're talking about, what they're doing, what they're linking to.

Steal Like an Artist, p. 102-103

Seth Godin:

I think we might be afraid of how much freedom we actually have, and how much we're expected to do with that freedom.

Poke the Box, p. 37

Harvey Milk:

I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living.  And you...and you...and you...gotta give 'em hope.

Hugh MacLeod:

Entrepreneurship can't be taught.  But it can be unleashed...

Freedom Is Blogging in Your Underwear, p. 19

Annie Dillard:

Admire the world for never ending on you -- as you would admire an opponent, without taking your eyes from him, or walking away.

The Writing Life, p. 78

Rita Mae Brown:

It's a strange time to be a writer because a writer is the one person in every culture, in every epoch, married to the truth.

Rita Will, p. x

Austin Kleon:

If there was a secret formula for becoming known, I would give it to you.  But there's only one not-so-secret formula that I know: Do good work and share it with people.

Steal Like an Artist, p. 79

Seth Godin:

Excellence isn't about working extra hard to do what you're told.  It's about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing.

Poke the Box, p. 34

Hugh MacLeod:

90% of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort and stamina.

Freedom Is Blogging in Your Underwear, p. 111