Good intentions are not an excuse for maladministration of this magnitude.

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.

Pierre Trudeau dreamed of a society that afforded all of its citizens an equal opportunity to succeed in life - whatever their background or beliefs, whether rich or poor.

To be frank, politics is about wanting power, getting it, exercising it, and keeping it.

To my mind losing is always better than never trying, because you can never tell what may happen.

Canadian federalism is more than a form of government. It's also a system of values that allows different people in diverse communities to live and work together in harmony for the good of all.

The art of politics is learning to walk with your back to the wall, your elbows high, and a smile on your face. It's a survival game played under the glare of lights.

Economics has been called the dismal science. Once you get to understand it, you may not find it so dismal, but you don't find it much of a science either.

There will be no silence from Canada. Our friendship has no limit. Generation after generation we have traveled many difficult miles together side by side.

A leader has to know how the system functions - not just the system of government but the whole social and economic system, including business, the unions, and the universities.

God gave me a physical defect, I've accepted that since I was a kid. When I was a kid people were laughing at me. But I accepted that because God gave me other qualities and I'm grateful.

Herodotus says, "Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all: the conscientious historian will correct these defects.

If you're a citizen of the State of New York, your kid has as much a right as another kid to an education, and the best education. The money should be distributed equally to all.

In putting off what one has to do, one runs the risk of never being able to do it.

I believe in the healing restorative power of art and communication. And so that's probably my rule. But that doesn't apply to bedtimes. And stuff like that.

Training is the key to keep people from getting hurt.

All his life he [the American] jumps into the train after it has started and jumps out before it has stopped; and he never once gets left behind, or breaks a leg.

If people have to put labels on me, I'd prefer the first label to be human being, the second label to be pacifist, and the third to be folk singer.

If you can once engage people's pride, love, pity, ambition (or whatever is their prevailing passion) on your side, you need not fear what their reason can do against you.

I think whenever you cast someone, someone's going to be critical about it.

I cannot subscribe to the omnipotence of a State legislature.