Extended excerpt [Responding to the idea that he is a ‘radical left-wing commentator’]:

“I mean, I’m a pro-capitalist, middle-of-the-road, tepid centrist. I mean, is it Left to insist that presidents and CIA directors adhere to the law? I don’t think so. I think it’s American.” (p. 134) 

Source: Library – Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy (1992|1999 Cornell Paperbacks ed.) International Standard Book Number (ISBN) 0-8014-8639-4

Extended excerpt: [Retirement interview with NY Times editor Ethan Bronner, one day after Lewis’ final Op-Ed column appeared in the paper.]:

“[Ethan Bronner] Q. Have you drawn any big conclusion?

[Anthony Lewis] A. Maybe it’s a twin conclusion. One is that certainty is the enemy of decency and humanity in people who are sure they are right, like Osama bin Laden and John Ashcroft. And secondly that for this country at least, given the kind of obstreperous, populous, diverse country we are, law is the absolute essential. And when governments short-cut the law, it’s extremely dangerous.”

Source note: In his remarks above, Lewis was reflecting two lessons learned during his career as a columnist & journalist. The men Lewis refers to are Saudi terrorist & al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden & then-American Attorney General John Ashcroft.]

Source link: “Conversations/The Long View; 50 Years of Covering War, Looking for Peace and Honoring Law” (16 December 2001) online via The New York Times [subscription service]: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/weekinreview/conversations-long-view-50-years-covering-war-looking-for-peace-honoring-law.html

Extended excerpt [Final paragraph of newspaper opinion column. Lewis was directly referencing assassination attempts on then-American President Gerald R. Ford.]:

“The search for conspiracy only increases the elements of morbidity and paranoia and fantasy in this country. It romanticizes crimes that are terrible because of their lack of purpose. It obscures our necessary understanding, all of us, that in this life there is often tragedy without reason.” (p. 43)

Source link: “What Not to Do” (25 September 1975) online via New York Times archives [subscription service]: http://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/25/archives/what-not-to-do-abroad-at-home.html

Extended excerpt [Newspaper opinion column]:

“But Italy is evidence that there is more to life – a civilized life – than the unregulated competition of the market. There are values of humanity, culture, beauty, community that may require deviations from the cold logic of market theory. So I am convinced after spending some weeks in Italy this summer.”

Source link: “At Home Abroad; A Civilized Society” (8 September 2001) online via The New York Times [subscription service]: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/08/opinion/at-home-abroad-a-civilized-society.html