Pierre Trudeau Quotes

We peer so suspiciously at each other that we cannot see that we Canadians are standing on the mountaintop of human wealth, freedom and privilege.

The federal government is the balance wheel of the federal system, and the federal system means using counterweights.

What is considered sinful in one of the great religions to which citizens belong isn't necessarily sinful in the others. Criminal law therefore cannot be based on the notion of sin; it is crimes that it must define.

I speak of a Canada where men and women of aboriginal ancestry, of French and British heritage, of the diverse cultures of the world, demonstrate the will to share this land in peace, in justice and with mutual respect.

If Canada is to survive, it can only survive in mutual respect and in love for one another.

Some things I never learned to like. I didn't like to kiss babies, though I didn't mind kissing their mothers. I didn't like to slap backs or other parts of the anatomy. I liked hecklers, because they brought my speeches alive. I liked supporters, because they looked happy. And I really enjoyed mingling with people, if there wasn't too much of it.

Liberalism is the philosophy for our time, because it does not try to conserve every tradition of the past, because it does not apply to new problems the old doctrinaire solutions, because it is prepared to experiment and innovate and because it knows that the past is less important than the future.

Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die.

The state has an active role to play in ensuring that there is equilibrium between the constituent parts of the economy, the consumers and the producers.

I don't really know what a cyclotron is but I am certainly very happy Canada has one!

The essential ingredient of politics is timing.

Well, I am trying to put Quebec in its place — and the place of Quebec is in Canada, nowhere else.

I've been called worse things by better people.

The past is to be respected and acknowledged, but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we will find our greatness.

Vive la France libre.