2030 Quotes by Australian authors

Australian Flag

Australian voices speak in a dry, flinty music: wry understatement cut with sudden tenderness. These quotes carry the heat-haze of distance, the grit of red earth, and the salt from a restless coast. They honor Country and kin, memory and survival, while skewering pomposity with a larrikin grin. Expect stories that bend toward resilience, fairness, and frank talk, whether whispered under gum trees or tossed across a crowded tram. The tone is spare, playful, and fierce, with humor used as both shield and compass.

See the complete list of authors from Australia

"Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer"

Henry Lawson, Writer

"My father was very much a handy person round the house, and I learnt a lot of carpentry from him"

John Henry Carver, Physicist

"The best love affairs are those we never had"

Norman Lindsay, Artist

"It is the inspiration of the Olympic Games that drives people not only to compete but to improve, and to bring lasting spiritual and moral benefits to the athlete and inspiration to those lucky enough to witness the athletic dedication"

Herb Elliott, Athlete

"Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. It has no mother"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"Geez, all that money we waste on space exploration; just think how many bombs that would buy!"

Craig Bruce, Writer

Small: Craig Bruce

"When anarchy is declared, the first thing we do, let's kill all the anarchists"

Craig Bruce, Writer

Small: Craig Bruce

"It's so bizarre, I'm not scared of snakes or spiders. But I'm scared of butterflies. There is something eerie about them. Something weird!"

Nicole Kidman, Actress

"I just want to be nominated; beggars can't be choosers"

Nicole Kidman, Actress

"I believe sustainable use is the greatest propaganda in wildlife conservation at the moment"

Steve Irwin, Scientist

"Every cent we earn from Crocodile Hunter goes straight back into conservation. Every single cent"

Steve Irwin, Scientist

"I don't think nationalism is alone holding the field; it's in contention with a lot of different things"

Peter Singer, Philosopher

"The solution to a problem changes the nature of the problem"

John Peers

"Music stops you from thinking"

Peter Weir, Director

"Jim Morrison's very good looking, but I don't like this version of the song. The Feliciano version is better"

Maurice Gibb, Musician

"Obviously it's my second senior event, and I'm tired obviously coming back from the British Open, from surgery, which was priority No. 1, did that successfully, and each week since the British Open I've felt in pretty good control of my golf game"

Greg Norman, Athlete

Small: Greg Norman

"Robin had always wanted to go solo, so when it happened I wasn't angry at all. I understood the situation. But Barry is so full of pride and couldn't understand why Robin had done it"

Maurice Gibb, Musician

"In the '50s, a lot of girls never saw beyond the wedding day"

Helen Reddy, Actress

"I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore, and I know too much to go back and pretend"

Helen Reddy, Actress

"Our future growth relies on competitiveness and innovation, skills and productivity... and these in turn rely on the education of our people"

Julia Gillard, Statesman

Small: Julia Gillard

"My guiding principle is that prosperity can be shared. We can create wealth together. The global economy is not a zero-sum game"

Julia Gillard, Statesman

Small: Julia Gillard

"Feed the troops on victory"

John Monash, Soldier

"Part of me is a sexual exhibitionist"

Kylie Minogue, Musician

"No man is a hero in his own country"

John Monash, Soldier

"My view on issues is based on common sense, and my experience as a mother of four children, as a sole parent, and as a businesswoman running a fish and chip shop"

Pauline Hanson, Politician

"New Zealand is a country of thirty thousand million sheep, three million of whom think they are human"

Barry Humphries, Entertainer

"Women's tennis is two sets of rubbish that lasts only half an hour"

Pat Cash, Athlete

"I didn't expect to get it at all. I just went along to the audition for the experience"

Dannii Minogue, Musician

"The world is never quiet, even its silence eternally resounds with the same notes, in vibrations which escape our ears"

Xavier Herbert, Writer

Small: Xavier Herbert

"The search for the truth is the most important work in the whole world, and the most dangerous"

James Clavell, Novelist

"Going after the unknown is always fascinating, I think. It becomes part of your life, this desire to know"

Mark Oliphant, Scientist

"Feelings or emotions are the universal language and are to be honored. They are the authentic expression of who you are at your deepest place"

Judith Wright, Poet

"The essence of pleasure is spontaneity"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"Even crushed against his brother in the Tube the average Englishman pretends desperately that he is alone"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"The house wife is an unpaid employee in her husband's house in return for the security of being a permanent employee"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"Man is jealous because of his amour propre; woman is jealous because of her lack of it"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"Security is when everything is settled. When nothing can happen to you. Security is the denial of life"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"Loneliness is never more cruel than when it is felt in close propinquity with someone who has ceased to communicate"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

"I think that testosterone is a rare poison"

Germaine Greer, Activist

Small: Germaine Greer

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