Trying to be clever, he negates what positive effect his essay could have had

While he does not say that furniture restoration is so rarified a discipline that it is beyond contemplation by regular people, in  his profile of furniture restorer Miguel Saco (“Humbled by a Master’s Refinishing Touch”, The Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2015), trying to be clever, Ralph Gardner Jr. unfortunately implies that. With phrases like “I realized I was entering an alternate universe” and “because I know I’m unworthy”, Gardner negates whatever positive conservation outreach his essay could have had.