There’s been some controversy the last half dozen years about what irony is and what irony isn’t. One one side we have AP English teachers preaching the good news of literary orthodoxy. Then there’s lived, experienced irony that doesn’t have the courtesy to confine itself to the stage and novel.

The key proponent of lifestyle irony was Randolph Bourne, a disabled American intellectual who died while still in his thirties almost three quarters of a century ago. Some Bourne quotes:

“The ironic life is a life keenly alert, keenly sensitive, reacting promptly with feelings of liking or dislike to each bit of experience, letting none of it pass without interpretation and assimilation, a life full and satisfying—indeed a rival of the religious life.”

“The inner peace of religion seems gained only at the expense of the reality of living. The life of irony, lived fully and joyously, cannot be peaceful; it cannot even be happy, in the sense of calm content and satisfaction. But it can be better than either—it can be wise, and it can be fruitful.”

“Irony is the great purger and cleanser of life. Irony is a sort of spiritual massage, rubbing the souls of men. It may seem rough to some tender souls, but it does not sere or scar them. The strong arm of irony restores the circulation, and drives away anaemia.”

“Irony might be compared to the acid that develops a photographic plate. It does not distort the image, but merely brings clearly to the light all that was implicit in the plate before.”

An example of Bourne’s flavor of irony in action? Chew on this Bourne quote: “Many of our cherished ideals would lose half their validity if put in the mouths of those less fortunate.”