Quotes by Jean Chrétien

At one point Trudeau mentioned to me that the National Gallery wanted to buy a masterpiece by the great Italian painter Lotto, and it needed a million dollars from the Treasury Board. “Is that Lotto-Quebec or Lotto-Canada?” I joked, but I got the message, and the National Gallery got the painting.

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.

A successful politician must not only be able to read the mood of the public, he must have the skill to get the public on his side. The public is moved by mood more than logic, by instinct more than reason, and that is something that every politician must make use of or guard against.

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.

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.

Obviously, I would have been happier if Canada had not been conquered in the past by the English, if this part of North America had remained French, but you can’t rewrite history.

There’s no such thing as a genius in politics, or at least I have never met one. There are only human beings, some better than others, who rise or fall on the challenges they meet.

Why buy repeater carbines and nuclear armament – if this is kept at home a child can play with it.

President Bush is a friend of mine. He’s not a moron at all.

A man can’t ask for much more than the chance to make a difference in his chosen field of work. Politics is my vocation. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this great country of ours. I know I am a better person for it.