“A discriminating irreverence is the creator and protector of human liberty.”

“You’ve always called me irreverent. You’ve branded me irreverent. In my mind you invented irreverent.”

“Enslave the liberty of but one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril. ”

“If there is any irreverence in my own work, I hope it is the irreverence I bear in mistrusting my own sincere self, which then sincerely mistrusts the irreverent me. If there is a bottom to this, I think it is a life’s work.”

“Whereas modern cynicism brought despair about the ability of the human species to realize laudable ideals, postmodern cynicism doesn't — not because it's optimistic, but because it can't take ideals seriously in the first place. The prevailing attitude is Absurdism. A postmodern magazine may be irreverent, but not bitterly irreverent, for it's not purposefully irreverent; its aim is indiscriminate, because everyone is equally ridiculous. And anyway, there's no moral basis for passing judgment. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

“Sometimes life is irreverent, and you accidentally discover you are a party to irreverence, and it's hard to know what to do.”