Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig, typically referred to as Leunig, is an Australian cartoonist, poet and cultural commentator. His best known works include The Adventures of Vasco Pyjama and the Curly Flats series. He was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1999...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth2 June 1945
CountryAustralia
boys bush hid indigenous initiation males manhood ran seen stories time
The scariness of manhood to males may be symbolically seen in the many stories of indigenous Australian boys who ran away and hid in the bush as the time of initiation approached.
confronted encounter horrifying man nailed people repulsive statue suddenly
Many people first encounter Jesus during childhood when they are suddenly confronted by a horrifying statue of a man nailed to a cross, and this is often a most unfortunate and repulsive beginning.
dares humiliated man
Modern man is probably a more humiliated and depressed creature than he dares to know.
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When I was a boy, my own dad told me in a smiling and wistful way that it's a wise man that knows his own father.
force heartless insatiable man power ruthless sign
The insatiable need for heartless power and ruthless control is the telltale sign of an uninitiated man - the most irresponsible, incompetent and destructive force on earth.
clever conscience empty man modern moral silence thinks
Clever modern man is so witless that he thinks moral silence and empty conscience are an advantage.
art man meat poetry sadness tender
Existential philosophy, poetry and art - just like sadness - were all unavoidable to a tender young man in the meat works.
appear armed campaign conducting desperate engaged looks massively nation oppression robbed supported
When all is said and done, it looks like the Palestinians have been massively robbed and abused, and are engaged in a desperate struggle for survival and liberation. Israel, on the other hand, would appear to be conducting an imperialistic campaign of oppression supported and substantially armed by the most powerful nation on earth.
bear failed faith fig human imagine jesus might saying virtue
We might imagine that Jesus had many human faults. He failed most humanly, in my reckoning, when he killed the fig tree just because it didn't bear any figs for his breakfast; that was a disgraceful, bad-tempered thing to do, and to try and make a virtue of it by saying it was a demonstration of faith only made things worse.
dashed paved
I sense that the road to Heaven is paved with dashed hopes.
Emotional stability has not been America's gift to the world.
dreams feed music mysterious poetry
Fogs are like dreams that feed the soul, and without their mysterious embrace, childhood, courtship, poetry and the composition of music become all the more difficult.
actively along among capacity children imagination personally poorer remain society
Sadly, semi-consciousness, along with daydreaming, is a capacity that is actively discouraged among children in schools, and our society is much poorer and harsher as a consequence. The value of liminal space and transitional imagination remain personally and culturally undeveloped.
travelling
Pre-Christmas is very important, and it is stressful, and, you know, even in the biblical story... travelling on the donkey in a stressful environment.