I stand here before Canadians as I will throughout this campaign and talk about the work we have to do to make a better country together, and I am going to continue to stay focused on that and continue to work to fight intolerance and discrimination, even though obviously I made a mistake in the past.

Pierre Trudeau

More Quotes by Pierre Trudeau
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More Quotes From Pierre Trudeau

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.

Pierre Trudeau
girlhateboys

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

Pierre Trudeau
our-futuregreatnesspast

Americans should never underestimate the constant pressure on Canada which the mere presence of the United States has produced. We're different people from you and we're different people because of you. Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is effected by every twitch and grunt. It should not therefore be expected that this kind of nation, this Canada, should project itself as a mirror image of the United States.

Pierre Trudeau
elephantsmirrorssleep
If Canada is to survive, it can only survive in mutual respect an... by Pierre Trudeau

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

Pierre Trudeau
mutual-respectmutualcanada

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.

Pierre Trudeau
pyramidsintegritycountry

If you live in a society where those who govern society and determine its path do not respect freedom of speech and freedom of religion, freedom of choice, freedom of assembly, and if there is no democratic process and no way to change the order of things by reason and peace and love and so on, and if, as a result of that, certain ideas in which you believe are being crushed, then I think the only way you can defend yourself against this violence is in using violence of your own.

Pierre Trudeau
orderbelievethinking
I will use all my strength to bring about a just society to a nat... by Pierre Trudeau

I will use all my strength to bring about a just society to a nation living in a tough world.

Pierre Trudeau
toughuseworld

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.

Pierre Trudeau
dreambeautifulcountry

You just cannot cut a country in two any more than you can cut a human being in two. If you do, you do not have two human beings; you have a corpse.

Pierre Trudeau
cuttingtwocountry
The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation. by Pierre Trudeau

The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.

Pierre Trudeau
bedroompoliticalbusiness

We must now establish the basic principles, the basic values and beliefs which hold us together as Canadians so that beyond our regional loyalties there is a way of life and a system of values which make us proud of the country that has given us such freedom and such immeasurable joy.

Pierre Trudeau
loyaltyjoycountry

I believe a constitution can permit the co-existence of several cultures and ethnic groups with a single state.

Pierre Trudeau
groupsbelieveculture
I've been called worse things by better people. by Pierre Trudeau

I've been called worse things by better people.

Pierre Trudeau
people

Canada will be a strong country when Canadians of all provinces feel at home in all parts of the country, and when they feel that all Canada belongs to them.

Pierre Trudeau
stronghomecountry

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.

Pierre Trudeau
importantphilosophypast

There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just dont like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go and bleed It is more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people Society must take every means at its disposal to defend itself against the emergence of a parallel power which defies the elected power.

Pierre Trudeau
gunheartmean

Bilingualism is not an imposition on the citizens. The citizens can go on speaking one language or six languages, or no languages if they so choose. Bilingualism is an imposition on the state and not the citizens.

Pierre Trudeau
bilingualismcitizensgoes-on

What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature.

Pierre Trudeau
paddlinghundredchildren
The new frontier lies not beyond the planets but within each one... by Pierre Trudeau

The new frontier lies not beyond the planets but within each one of us.

Pierre Trudeau
miscellaneousplanetslying

I walked until midnight in the storm, then I went home and took a sauna for an hour and a half. It was all clear. I listened to my heart and saw if there were any signs of my destiny in the sky, and there were none - there were just snowflakes.

Pierre Trudeau
destinyhomeheart