JOHN G. DIEFENBAKER

I am not anti-American. But I am strongly pro-Canadian.

The Liberals are the flying saucers of politics. No one can make head nor tail of them and they never are seen twice in the same place.

For the benefit of those who are not bilingual, I will now continue in English.

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.

Governments propose, and oppositions dispose.

I never will ascribe to this government [Liberal Party] such wrongdoing as mere stupidity will explain.

I'm not asking for the support of the powerful, the strong and the mighty—but of the average Canadian, the group to which I belong.

Oppositions clean and purify those in office and we in the opposition are in fact the detergents of democracy.

Our country should be all Canadian and all British.

Polls are only good for dogs.

They say I've made mistakes, but they've been mistakes of the heart.

Canada was conceived of by men of two different equally rich cultures, of two distinctive communities. Bilingualism and biculturalism are facts of Canadian life and should not be hidden or avoided. They're important, even vital to Canada as a nation, but they’re assets, not liabilities, positive factors, not negative ones.

I am first Prime Minister of this country of neither all together English nor French origin .... I am determined to bring about the Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration.

Some wonder why I have such a feeling of concern over the imposition of the death penalty. I ask those who wonder how would you feel if you defended a man charged with murder, who was as innocent as any hon. member in this House at this very moment, who was convicted; whose appeal was dismissed, who was executed; and six months later the star witness for the Crown admitted that he, himself, had committed the murder and blamed it on the accused? That experience will never be effaced from my memory.

I have an intensive hatred for discrimination based on color.

Everyone is against me - except the people!

There can be no dedication to Canada's future without a knowledge of its past.

I was criticized for being too much concerned with the average Canadians. I can't help that; I am one of them!

We must vigilantly stand on guard within our own borders for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are our proud heritage......w e cannot take for granted the continuance and maintenance of those rights and freedoms.

I've lived history. I've made history, and I know I'll have my place in history. That's not egoism.

I am the first prime minister of this country of neither English nor French origin. So I determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration....I'm very happy to be able to say that in the House of Commons today in my party we have members of Italian, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Ukrainian origin and they are all Canadians.

I'm disturbed because the doctors tell me I'm as sound as a dollar.

I have always been a House of Commons man.

Parliament is more than procedure - it is the custodian of the nation's freedom.

Freedom includes the right to say what others may object to and resent... The essence of citizenship is to be tolerant of strong and provocative words.