JOLLY DAYS

Vonnegut

Christopher Buckley on Lehrer offered Jonathan Swift's epitaph in discussing Kurt Vonnegut's death:

“He is now beyond the reach of the world's capacity to lacerate his indignant heart.”

From Vonnegut's irreverent Playboy interview:

This is a huge country. There are primitive tribes here and there who have customs and moral standards of their own. It's the way I feel about religious fundamentalists. They really ought to have a reservation. They have a right to their culture and I can see where the First Amendment would be very painful for them. The First Amendment is a tragic amendment because everyone is going to have his or her feelings hurt and your government is not here to protect you from having your feelings hurt.