Politics is a game of friends. - Jean Chrétien

I didn't feel the need to have a lot of yes-men standing around me. As Mitchell Sharp once put it, the bigger the staff, the smaller the minister.

Mr President, I said, I have to tell you something. I don't want to get too close to you. He looked startled. I imagine it was a rare thing for a U.S. Commander-in-chief to hear. Canada is your best friend, largest trading partner, and closest ally, but we are also an independent country. Keeping some distance will be good for both of us. If we look as though we're the fifty-first state of the United States, there is nothing we can do for you internationally, just as the governor of a state can't do anything for you internationally. But if we look independent enough, we can do things for you that even the CIA cannot do.

There is nothing more nervous than a million dollars - it moves very fast, and it doesn't speak any language.