Hugh Mackay Quotes

34 quotes in 658 categories

• Obviously, every child should be given the best possible opportunity to acquire literacy skills.
• Parents should be encouraged to read to their children, and teachers should be equipped with all available techniques for teaching literacy, so the varying needs…
• 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.
• Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.
• It seems inevitable that the magic of the written word will fade.
• 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.
• It is the misfortune of contemporary leaders, across the whole spectrum of Australian life, that the community's demand for strong leadership is growing in direct…
• One of the most important responsibilities of leaders in any setting - including business organisations - is to tell us our own story; to explain…
• The yearning for strong leadership is more about strength of purpose - clarity of vision - than about merely 'getting tough'.
• Polls are no substitute for leadership because, at its very essence, leadership is about giving people what they don't already have - a sense of…
• Is it possible that literacy standards are falling because young Australians are growing up in a culture in which they can be entertained and informed,…
• Yet in our enthusiasm for the idea that everyone should be able to read and write fluently, we may be missing a crucial point: in…
• No one welcomes chaos, but why crave stability and predictability?
• Reading is a huge effort for many people, a bore for others, and, believe it or not, many people prefer watching TV.
• I suspect the secret of personal attraction is locked up in our unique imperfections, flaws and frailties.
• 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…
• 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…
• It's Australian to do such things because, however uncivilised they may seem, it's human to do them.
• 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…
• Actually, I can't imagine anything more tedious than a perfect person, especially if it was someone who also demanded perfection from me.

Browse Hugh Mackay Quotes by Category