Latest Articles
It's not just free speech they aim to curtail, it's also our right to rejoice in national landmarks
Oct 07 2024
5 mins
Norway’s pride in its democracy has been tainted by the May recognition of Palestine
Oct 07 2024
9 mins
I criticised the quality of Chinese electrical goods, then they came after me for revenge
Oct 06 2024
8 mins
Andrew Lansdown: The Bamboo Dragonflies of Arashiyama
The Bamboo Dragonflies of Arashiyama
In a bamboo grove
a man is carving bamboo
to make dragonflies—
their long tails counterweighting
their paired forward-thrusting wings.
In the beginning,
who imagined the balance
and the buoyancy
that could be achieved by means
of mere weight and counterweight?
Yet stability
depends on many matters,
as the recently
steady bamboo dragonflies
discovered when I bumped them.
Even as they bob
and wobble out of balance
they look elegant—
the bamboo dragonflies carved
to match poise with counterpoise.
Andrew Lansdown
Many will disagree, but World War III is too great a risk to run by involving ourselves in a distant border conflict
Sep 25 2024
5 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins
