Humans are nervous, touchy creatures and can be easily offended. Many are deeply insecure. They become focused and energized by taking offence; it makes them feel meaningful and alive. Michael Leunig More Quotes by Michael Leunig More Quotes From Michael Leunig Each day is a lifetime. In the morning we are born. The day lies before us: vast and bright and new. Michael Leunig each-daymorninglying Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that Michael Leunig happinessinspirationallove Sometimes I wonder if the semi-conscious agenda of the media is to get between people and their souls. It is the the soul with its myriad tiny nerve endings that notices the neglected pathos, poignancy and practicality that lies at the heart of life. It's as if the media are somehow irritated and envious that anonymous people should have the quiet brilliance of their rich and sustainable inner lives. Michael Leunig mediaheartlying When the heart is cut or cracked or broken Do not clutch it Let the wound lie open Let the wind from the good old sea blow in to bathe the wound with salt and let it sting. Let a stray dog lick it Let a bird fly in the hole and sing a simple song like a tiny bell and let it ring. Michael Leunig dogsonglying In order to be truthful Michael Leunig truthfulhonestyorder God bless this tiny little boat, And me who travels in it. It stays afloat for years and years, And sinks within a minute. And so the soul in which we sail, Unknown by years of thinking, Is deeply felt and understood, The minute that it’s sinking. Michael Leunig soulyearsthinking God help us to live slowly: Michael Leunig heartlooksmoving Wars don't happen on battlefields; they go on happening in people's hearts for generations and generations, and the ecological damage is unfathomably complex and dire. Michael Leunig heartwarpeople Love a single an additional and you will be satisfied. It really is as easy and as challenging as that. Michael Leunig satisfiedchallengeseasy There are only two feelings, Love and fear: Michael Leunig languagefeelingstwo If European symbols and traditions have grown tired, perfunctory and oppressively banal in Australia, or been drained of spirit and meaning by the dreary dictates of materialism and secularity, then the raw spirit truth of our native land is alive and radiant by comparison. For joy and meaning we might well turn to our natural country and witness miracles of vitality and new life, of inspiration and profound beauty; all in some humble, quiet and improbable place. Michael Leunig naturewisdomcountry In order to be truthful we must do more than speak the truth. We must also hear truth, receive truth, search for truth. Michael Leunig truthfulspeakorder Ah, whimsical. It's terrible the way words get attached to you like barnacles. As is what I do is acting on a 'whim'. If only these were gifts from God when I get an idea, but everything I have done that I really love has had a lot of hard work behind it. Michael Leunig hard-workideasart For me, spirit is the impulse towards life, the Eros in a person leaping forward, whereas soul refers to something possibly long.. suffering, where meanings are made, where there is a sense of this gathering of perceptions, that our death is not the most important thing, nor our life. Michael Leunig soullongart At the very simplest, I think as Van Gogh said and St Francis would have said, we must find nature. Just to be in the presence of nature your feelings and 'little seedlings' start to awake. So if we disassociate ourselves from God we cut nature out, too. More and more we turn nature into a commodity, into eco-tourism. But we must integrate it into the way people live every day. Michael Leunig cuttingnaturethinking Easter is reflecting upon suffering for one thing, but it also reflects upon Jesus and his non-compliance in the face of great authority where he holds to his truth - so there's two stories there. Michael Leunig reflecting-uponeasterjesus The most joyous painting is not done for the art world, it is done for the inner world. Michael Leunig doneworldart Is a brazen and innocent confrontation with paternal authority an unbearably terrifying prospect to some? Are the consequences of a fathers anger and displeasure so catastrophic in the primal imagination that every semblance of it in the world both literally and metaphorically must be denounced in the strongest possible terms? It would seem so. Michael Leunig imaginationfatherworld The creative act is also in a small way a suffering act - we start out with our ego, this hope of making this thing whatever it be, but so often it eludes us and it collapses and we kind of regress into this mental suffering, we can't find what we're looking for. Michael Leunig elude-usegocreative A world view is probably an expression of self. Michael Leunig expressionselfviews
