Pierre Trudeau Quotes

It doesn't matter how fast your modem is if you're being shelled by ethnic separatists.

The world is in such a place of social unrest and there's so much violence.

When you scan the globe's hot spots, every civil war and massacre, every act of terror and every clash between states has its unique local circumstances.

My view is when you use violence on your people, that never ends well.

Deep-seated are the wounds of civil brawls.

After the assassination of my wife, our nation was perilously close to civil strife. If I, as the co-chairman of the Party, had asked my people to take to the streets, the very existence of the federation would have been threatened.

I was watching TV and saw people with masks, weapons, and grenades. I thought, Is that really possible? Could we be here yet again? And go into civil war one more time?

When Ukrainians kill Ukrainians, I believe this is as close to a civil war as you can get.

I was grateful for the opportunity to make a difference. The political violence really started in 1970-1971. The political difficulties start a little bit beyond that.

I don't want to constantly be writing about terrorism and strife.

Panamanians live in a chronic state of insurrection and violence.

There is no way out of the political troubles of South Africa except for reform in the Transvaal, or war.

We seek a logical understanding of mass violence, but war and civil strife rarely explode because of rational grievances. Complaints about oppression, poverty or injustice may serve as superficial catalysts, but few wars can be traced to objective decision-making by the dispassionate leaders of cool-headed populations. War is an act of passion, not of policy.

Rebellions broke out, from the full-scale political revolution of Dorr’s rebellion in Rhode Island to urban violence and protest, often by out of work whites taking out their anger on African Americans or Irish Americans. In response, leaders had to come to terms with the role of force in a democracy.

I've seen a lot of political violence in my life. I know what it looks like. I know what it smells like. I know what motivates young men to do it. I've talked to them about it. I know what victims feel like, you know? I know the abominable effect it has on politics. I know how intractable it is.

I do worry about civil unrest, or complete collapse of society, or having to flee, or Europe falling into a war.

Today, the worst conflicts, the most deep-rooted violence, and those likely to emerge in the coming years are due to disparities in development.

We believe that peace is hard-won, That sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace. But more than that, we believe that Justice is more important than peace.

I believe war is the inevitable fruit of our economic system.

How is it possible to have a civil war?

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

Finland had a civil war less than 100 years ago, just like in Ireland. If you look at the history of newly independent nations, civil war is almost every time present, even in the United States.

Who can sit back as our towns and cities are torn apart by violence and be content with the status quo?

Iraq is falling apart.

Today continuing poverty and distress are a deeper and more important cause of international tensions, of the conditions that can produce war, than previously.