“Saying that cultural objects have value is like saying that telephones have conversations.”

““Sometimes, you know, when we meet people, it seems to me (…) [that] it's hard to gain access to a real conversation. It's almost like it takes one of us to just be real, even if it's to say "you know, I don't really know what to say to you." Or to say no. Sometimes you have to say no, or to set a boundary.””

“Pat Buchanan likes to say we're in a culture war. The Civil War was a culture war, and brothers killed brothers. I wonder if they avoided dinner conversation about politics. What if this culture war turned into a real war? I'd look back on that dinner and wish that I'd ordered a side of argument.”

“Must have been quite the culture shock, going there.”
“Yes it was.” Idris doesn’t say that the real culture shock has been in coming back.”

“The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own.”

“It's hard to hear what they're saying. Have you ever tried to say, 'What's the special today?' to somebody from Bulgaria? And the worst ones — if they're from India. I mean, they're all lovely people, but you gotta have an interpreter. Or how many of you try to return something on Amazon on a telephone?”

“All admit that indulgences have some value; for it would be blasphemy to say that the Church does anything in vain.”

“I have failed, thou sayest. Say rather that God is circling about towards His object.”

“They say that I have no hits and that I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing.”

“Culture carries no privilege to exist. Cultures do not have value simply because they are. Some cultures, the world is better off without.”