Jean Chretien Quotes
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Trudeau valued performance above image. He Knew he could give me a shovel if there was a mess to clean up, and he kept moving me from one mess to another.
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There is nothing more nervous than a million dollars - it moves very fast, and it doesn't speak any language.
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I was proud to have been the anti-establishment candidate after more than twenty years in politics, a small town guy fighting for the ordinary Canadian.
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You have to look at history as an evolution of society.
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Over the years, I have seen too many politicians ruin their careers because they could not accept defeat graciously.
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Everybody has the right to speak up in a democracy. We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just. Sometimes as prime minister, when i was caught up in a really loud demonstration, I used to say to myself that I deserved it because of all the demonstrations I myself had organized as a student against Duplessis.
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I don't know what is marijuana. Perhaps I will try it when it will no longer be criminal. I will have my money for my fine and a joint in the other hand.
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Vision is not political rhetoric.
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Most Canadians don't understand the House of Commons. They turn on their televisions, see us yelling at one another, and dismiss us as a bunch of fools.
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It's one thing for a courier service transport letters and documents from one city to another at a cost that only big business can afford; but it's another thing to take a letter from an Indian boy studying at the University of Ottawa to his mother in Old Crow.
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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.
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To be frank, politics is about wanting power, getting it, exercising it, and keeping it.
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But I tell you I was very proud of them, because they took it with such great class. Both of them. They said, 'We are not judges, we've done our best.' And it was a fabulous performance, and I am told that in Canada they had a strong reaction, and even in the United States.
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I must admit that I didn't think we would succeed.
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I am not an expert but I watched it with Eileen, and we were extremely disappointed because (Canada's Jamie) Sale and (David) Pelletier had done a fabulous performance, but I am not a judge.
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The Western world is ... looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy and with no limits. And Sept. 11 is an occasion for me to realize it even more.
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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.
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President Bush is a friend of mine. He's not a moron at all.
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To my mind losing is always better than never trying, because you can never tell what may happen.
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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.
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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.
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I've never believed in seeking perfection at the risk of losing everything.
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I learned early that business is business and politics is politics. The proof is how few important businessmen have made good politicians. They may think that they are very smart about everything because they made millions of dollars by digging a hole in the ground and finding oil, but the talent and luck needed to become rich are not the same talent and luck needed to succeed on Parliament Hill.
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The vast majority of the people who cross our border pose no risk to either country.