Hugh Mackay Quotes

The copycat effects of media violence, similar to those previously attributed to westerns, radio serials and comic books, are easy to exaggerate.

Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.

So, if falling crime rates coincide with the rise of violent video games and increasing violence on TV and at the cinema, should we conclude that media violence is causing the drop in crime rates?

Actually, I can't imagine anything more tedious than a perfect person, especially if it was someone who also demanded perfection from me.

I suspect the secret of personal attraction is locked up in our unique imperfections, flaws and frailties.

Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.

The thing we need most is each other.

It's Australian to do such things because, however uncivilised they may seem, it's human to do them.

Obviously, every child should be given the best possible opportunity to acquire literacy skills.

One reason we resist making deliberate choices is that choice equals change and most of us, feeling the world is unpredictable enough, try to minimise the trauma of change in our personal lives.

Indeed, in the present climate of mistrust of institutions, many people who yearn for a more meaningful and fulfilling life would regard the church as an unlikely place to go for guidance.

But the rule seems to be that the bigger and more life-changing the decision, the less it will seem like a decision at all.

No one welcomes chaos, but why crave stability and predictability?

The yearning for strong leadership is more about strength of purpose - clarity of vision - than about merely 'getting tough'.

On average, Australians watch more than three hours of television a day, compared with 12 minutes a day spent by the average couple talking to each other.

Reading is a huge effort for many people, a bore for others, and, believe it or not, many people prefer watching TV.

It seems inevitable that the magic of the written word will fade.

With increasing frequency and growing vehemence, you hear people saying they are ashamed to be Australians.

Although we love the idea of choice - our culture almost worships it - we seek refuge in the familiar and the comfortable.

Perhaps it's the people whose lives have taken sudden new twists - people who have learned to embrace the creative possibilities of change - who stand the best chance of penetrating life's mysteries.