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
australian becoming recommend redeeming strangers wander weary western
If you're becoming weary and disillusioned with Australian values, Judeo-Christian values or Western civilisation, I recommend strangers - they're such a glorious, redeeming wilderness to wander into.
arises art ends life religion spiritual
Art, like religion, arises from the spirit, but alas, the formalizing of spiritual life all too often ends in hypocrisy.
eerie infinitely war
The disasters of war can be infinitely eerie and poignant.
brainy dull education goose help lead life nasty people profoundly special stupid suits system wild
An education system suits some more than others. It can lead you out into life or lead you on a wild goose chase. It can help to make you miserable, or dull and nasty and insipid, or profoundly stupid in the special way that 'brainy' people can be.
time
I see a lot of my children. They're around the house all the time on the farm, you know.
contend deeply ear modern nose organ sensitive
If the nose has become a deeply disillusioned and grief-stricken organ in the modern world, then what of the ear? The poor little ear - such an innocent, intelligent and sensitive creature; in these times of such flagrant sonic brutality, the sense within the ear has much to contend with.
life
Have I got the right to experiment with my child's life?
religion
I never had a spirit-breaking, soul-destroying religion drummed into me.
sorts
In my journey as a cartoonist, I seem to have accidentally stumbled into all sorts of traps, damnations and blacklists.
itself misses
If you know anything about ducks, you know a baby duck will imprint itself on you. It misses its mother.
civic disastrous electric failure full injury insulting night shutting sign street
A street full of electric light is a sign of civic failure and is an insulting injury to the soul. Shutting out the night is as disastrous as shutting out the light.
greedy
Every child is a greedy child, I think. I mean, it's healthy to be a greedy child.
angry beautiful became deity god people please society successful
The 'economy' became a god such as never before, and a happy, successful society was one that could please this god - sometimes by sacrificing beautiful things - to keep the deity from getting angry and harming the people by withdrawing favours.
added age alluring clothes connect dutch embark fell love mysterious seemed sisters speak vast word
At the age of nine, I simultaneously fell in love with two Dutch sisters because they seemed so beautifully strange, and their clothes were mysterious and alluring - added to which, they could not speak a word of English. More than anything, I wanted to connect with them and embark on a vast journey of exploration.