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" 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. "

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" There is a central flaw in contemporary culture and a corresponding and related inability to address it. Society seems somehow unable to adequately help or protect itself. Normal citizens feel powerless, isolated and disturbed. "

Michael Leunig

Culture

Society

Normal

" I increasingly wonder whether most humans are in a constant state of unconsciously fearing each other. Perhaps they fear how intimately different other people might be to them, and the problem is that there is no real way of finding out just how huge that difference might be. "

" What a magical thing is the bed, and what a vulnerable, innocent creature is the sleeping human - the human who never looks more truthful or pitiful or benign; the curled-up, childlike dreaming soul who has for a few hours become an angel adrift. "

" Avoiding maturity is, for many men, not just a cute hobby, but a life's work - often handsomely rewarded in the infantile popular culture of the West. "

" 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. "

" Integrity is an ecosystem. "

Michael Leunig

Ecosystem

Integrity

" Pursuit is a rather desperate act in itself. There's something kind of frantic about the notion of pursuit. "

" Art is about the messy and marvelous business of coming to your senses - and also, to the senses of the world. "

" For 13 years, I struggled with education and have only just realised that I was actually struggling to protect myself from it. I was trying to protect my soul. "

" Life itself is offensive and certainly does not apologize - in fact, it hurts considerably and, as we all know, is often very rude and troublesome, just as nature or art can be. "

" Humanity hungers for the uncommon. "

Michael Leunig

Humanity

Uncommon

" All nations that throw their military weight around, occupying neighboring lands and treating the residents with callous and humiliating disregard, are already sliding towards the dark possibilities in human nature. "

" Art, like religion, arises from the spirit, but alas, the formalizing of spiritual life all too often ends in hypocrisy. "

" I think we live in delusional times, whether it's with a great ability to totally distract ourselves with technology, or with speed and the velocity of life. "

" Like normal people, leftists now have to get up in the morning and earn a living, seeing as the fascists have come down so hard on social welfare fraud, and this is the cruel reality. The good old days are gone, and increasingly, leftists are to be found working in ordinary, proper jobs. "

" My father was a meat worker. He was a union organizer in the meat workers union. "

" It is difficult to imagine any time in history when so many people claiming to be so free have lived in so much fear of being unattractive. "

" When people talk about their God, it is difficult to know what they actually mean, and when people talk about their atheism, it is usually incomprehensible also. "

" In later life, we don't easily talk of fears, but instead we discuss our 'concerns.' Fear seems too primal and hysterical, but concern is polite and intellectual and nicely under control. "

" What really irks me is the snide victimizing suggestion from some that I have tried to be lighthearted and funny... Oh my God - this is so offensive. "

" A good memory is surely a compost heap that converts experience to wisdom, creativity, or dottiness; not that these things are of much earthly value, but at least they may keep you amused when the world is keeping you locked away or shutting you out. "

" Falling down is a very big subject, and so is the concept of downfall. None of us escapes, and I have had my share of both. "

Michael Leunig

Falling

Downfall

" Existential philosophy, poetry and art - just like sadness - were all unavoidable to a tender young man in the meat works. "

" Any cartoon that can be liked by a committee is really not worth drawing; in fact, must not be drawn at all! Better to become a stockbroker. "

" 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. "

" I had many good teachers, but only three of them were school teachers. "

" I don't like to brag, but I must tell you that I am regarded in some circles as being in the upper echelons of the elite loony left. "

Michael Leunig

You

Circles

" As we grow, we lift our gaze higher and higher, and then sometimes we are brought to our knees, but all is not lost; what we find on the ground can be very valuable and precisely what we need. "

" It's terrible the way words get attached to you like barnacles. "

Michael Leunig

Terrible

You

" Of all the seasons, winter is the most conducive to the great art of dormancy. This art requires an appreciation of semi-consciousness: the beautiful and necessary prelude to sleep - a special pleasure in itself that is all too often neglected, under-valued or looked down upon. "