Quotes from Margaret Trudeau

I was a bit of a mother hen at Studio 54.

With my children, balance was everything: being not just a workaholic, not only studying but taking time to renew and restore yourself and taking time to pay attention to your brain health and not assume, as we all do, that our brains are perfect.

I'm an old hippie who lives in the now. I seldom look forward, but we have to.

If you rely completely on protocol, you can become a robot.

Everywhere I go, particularly when there's people who know me or recognize me, I get the warmest hugs and happiest sighs full of hope and full of relief.

I just want to find my individuality.

I have had quite the grand, interesting life.

I had no idea there was such a thin line between sanity and insanity. I got pushed right to the edge by tragedy in my life, and I couldn't stand up; I couldn't recover.

The label 'wife of the prime minister' is like a giant signboard pointing at my head from a Monty Python sketch. But I am not Mrs. Prime Minister. I'm a human being.

I thought of 24 Sussex Drive as the crown jewel of the federal penitentiary system.

My life for so many years was a reality show.

There was imbalance with my first husband just by the given of our 29-year age difference and the difficulty of me being this unformed, enthusiastic young woman and he already completely in place being the leader of the country.

For me, because I'm a mental health advocate, I want everyone to be the healthiest they can be.

Canadians know me so well - I am part of Canada's collective memory - and my fame would get people through the door who would not otherwise be interesting in talking about mental health.

I know what it's like to feel marginalized and defeated and humiliated by suffering from a mental illness.

My honesty about mental illness has helped open a door for real conversation, and I think Justin wants to continue that conversation. He has put no restrictions on me. His father couldn't. Why should he try?

When you're mentally ill, sometimes you're so self-involved that you forget how much you're hurting all the people around you who love you so much, because you don't understand that you've got to get help.

I didn't even like Mick Jagger.

I have five of the most beautiful children.

Politics is an ugly and thankless role.

We don't help people mourn in our society.

You need community support. You're pretty defeated when you're laid low with a mental illness. It's a frightening place to be, and to get up and be able to stand and to move forward and to start functioning again, you need so much support. You need to feel you're not alone.

Bad choices make good stories.

I'm pretty much an out-front, straightforward chick, and I get a bit confused by expectations.