Pierre Trudeau (1919 – 2000)
Canadian politician.
I would have to point out in the strongest terms the autocracy of the Liberal structure and the cowardice of its members. I have never seen in all my examination of politics so degrading a spectacle as that of all these Liberals turning their coats in unison with their Chief, when they saw the chance to take power.
Harvard was an extraordinary window on the world.
I was too busy doing my job and living my life to spend time keeping notes for some future volume of memoirs.
Mr. Lévesque was saying that part of my name was Elliott and since Elliot was an English name, it was perfectly understandable that I was for the No side, because, really, you see, I was not as much of a Quebecer as those who are going to vote Yes. That, my dear friends, is what contempt is…. It means saying that the Quebecers on the No side are not as good Quebecers as the others and perhaps they have a drop or two of foreign blood, while the people on the Yes side have pure blood in their veins.… Of course my name is Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Yes, Elliott was my mother's name. It was the name borne by the Elliotts who came to Canada more than 200 years ago. It is the name of the Elliotts who, more than 100 years ago, settled in Saint-Gabriel de Brandon, where you can still see their graves in the cemetery. That is what the Elliotts are. My name is a Quebec name — but my name is a Canadian name also.
We aimed far and high, but we did not miss the mark.
There is no such thing as a model or ideal Canadian. What could be more absurd than the concept of an "all Canadian" boy or girl? A society which emphasizes uniformity is one which creates intolerance and hate.
I remember thinking that walking on the beach as a free man is pretty desirable.
I saw the charter as an expression of my long-held view that the subject of law must be the individual human being; the law must permit the individual to fulfil himself or herself to the utmost.
If Canada is to survive, it can only survive in mutual respect and in love for one another.
In Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada has at last produced a political leader worthy of assassination.
Paddling a canoe is a source of enrichment and inner renewal.
I never actually got around to taping conversations with my guests, but there are a lot of things you can learn from a man like Nixon.
The greatest pop star this country has ever produced.
A country, after all, is not something you build as the pharaohs built the pyramids, and then leave standing there to defy eternity. A country is something that is built every day out of certain basic shared values.
Democracy demands that elected members be able to realize fully the role for which they have been chosen.
If all politicians were like Mr. Trudeau, there would be world peace.