Quotes from Jean Chretien

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.

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.

Politics is a game of friends.

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

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.

But I accepted that because God gave me other qualities and I'm grateful.

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

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.

For all its prestige, its fabulous views, its indoor pool, and its lovely garden, 24 Sussex is more like an old hotel than a modern home.

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

No, a proof is a proof...

You have to look at history as an evolution of society.

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.

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.

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.

You have to look at history as an evolution of society.

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.

Deficit reduction is not an end in itself. It is the means to an end. Canadians must now decide what kind of country they want to build with the hard-won dividend.

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.

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.

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.