“No reformation worth having was ever accomplished to the sound of polite applause in the background. There will be smoke, and thunder, and yelling, and all the rest of it.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 73
Merry and Terrible
“We may fight with abandon because we are not abandoned. Fatalistic warriors can be grim and fell, but never merry.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 71
About that Contretemps on Piers Morgan
Introduction: So on Monday I was slated to appear on a panel with Piers Morgan and, having done so, I encountered what passes for enlightened discourse these days—you know, in the twilight of our ...
Letters to Gladden the Heart of Man
Letter to the Editor: You've got to know some good dad jokes. Any favorites you could share? Aidan Aidan, when you say "good" dad jokes, I have to ask . . . by what ...
One or the Other
“Some of these principles nest within others, like Russian dolls. Some of them do not—like dolls that aren’t Russian dolls.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 70
A Surprise Strategy
“But Paul doesn’t tell us to fight dirty jokes with clean jokes, lame or not. He says to fight dirty jokes with contentment and gratitude.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 66
Ummm . . .
Important to Remember
Making and Having
“All of this is one of the reasons why more than a few readers constantly assume that I am always making fun of them. This is because they belong to a different tradition, that, say, of stuffing all the shirts, and they have trouble distinguishing a man who is making fun from a man who is just having fun.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 57
Can We Agree So Far?
“Before claiming the right to speak like Ezekiel, can we at least agree that Ezekiel was Ezekiel? He, at any rate, rebuked the geopolitical lusts of Jerusalem, by saying that they yearned for Babylonians who were hung like donkeys, and who ejaculated like horses.”
No Such Thing as Bad Words, p. 53