Jay Asher Quotes

Society needs a couple of vents that say what you're not supposed to say.

The world is slowly evolving into a place where the things that we have seen as being taboo are starting to open up a bit more.

I never thought that I would become a staple in the Australian cultural diet. The equivalent of bread or milk, or a fine old Tasmanian Mauve Vein. I think it's because I talk about things that people dare not mention. I don't mean raunchy things or unsavoury things. I call a spade a spade - I discuss things in a realistic manner.

There is nothing we can't do. So it's just the fact that we're doing topics like that that other people, especially network TV, won't touch, that we're satirists.

The secular argument, or the liberal argument, is to as much as possible remove taboos so things do not become unmentionable; to let some air into the discussion.

Being in the public eye makes you frightened to talk openly about things - which is precisely why you should. You can really make a difference and open up subjects that are taboo.

I'm not going to hold my tongue because society wouldn't want me to say something.

I think controversy is an interesting thing in that it usually goes hand in hand with starting conversations that surround taboo or under-discussed topics that need to be discussed and need to be less in the shadows, in my opinion.

One of the missions of 'The Nightly Show' was to have a conversation with America in a sense, and talk about the things that people didn't want to talk about it.

It was a scandal when I did French 'Playboy' in 2008, though I was never actually nude in it. I think it's really funny that I'll have a cover of 'Playboy' to show my grandkids.

The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom of speech.

None of us would trade freedom of expression and of ideas for the narrowness of the public censor. America is the free market for people who have something to say, and need not fear to say it.

What we try to do is represent public opinion—and public opinion is anti oral sex.

I think people are frightened of saying what they think, and I think that's a bad thing for society.

My very shy Punjabi father never taught me about the birds and bees. So shy was he that he may have thought he would get arrested for even talking about it.

Liberal arts colleges have traditionally provided a forum for debating ideas. Avoiding controversy and 'playing it safe' by not inviting - or disinviting - speakers with 'controversial' views stifles debate.

When I named it 'Girl Problems,' I knew I would be inviting some interesting questions and some funny questions, but that was the cool part about it - I wanted that.

While people can differ on the issues, no one should seek to discourage freedom of speech.

We don't want people to be afraid of saying something interesting on the off chance it's taken the wrong way.

We are not outraged by blood. We see blood all the time. Blood is pervasive in movies, television, and video games. Yet, we are outraged by the fact that one openly discusses bleeding from an area that we try to claim ownership over.

With a lot of these social stigmas, they just don't need to be in place. Just by talking about them, we can often shatter them.

We can't treat issues as taboo because we find them unpleasant.

My view is, let's not shut down anyone's right to speak, let's meet their comments with more speech.

I'm a strong believer in free speech to the degree that I support everybody's right to speak, including those whose views I find disgusting.

For me, books were my source of affirmation. Alice Walker, Audrey Lord - it was these authors who wrote about their experiences. It was this weird thing where I was censored in terms of what I could watch but not in terms of what I could read.