“I once had a dispute with a group of Swedish professors at the University of Uppsala as to which country, Sweden or Canada, was the dullest in the world. It was a draw; they claimed superiority because of their long history, and I claimed it because of Canada's immense land mass, which gives us space for tremendous expansion, even of such things as dullness.”

— Robertson Davies

Opera and Humour (1991)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Robertson Davies 282

Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and nov… 1913–1995

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and novelist

Shakespeare over the Port (1960)

“I want to lead Canada. All of Canada, not just parts of Canada. ... I am not going to write off certain parts of the country just because we had a tough past 10 years. Or, tough past 100 years.”

Justin Trudeau (1971) 23rd Prime Minister of Canada; eldest son of Pierre Trudeau

Statement in Calgary, Alberta, a region where the Liberals have long struggled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_alienation to gain electoral foothold, on the province's Heritage Day holiday, August 3, 2015. As quoted in Macleans https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/exorcising-the-ghost-of-trudeau-past/ discussing the subject of the lingering influence of the Trudeau name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Energy_Program in Western Canada.

“I think in Atlantic Canada, because of what happened in the decades following Confederation, there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome. …Atlantic Canada's culture of defeat will be hard to overcome as long as Atlantic Canada is actually physically trailing the rest of the country.”

Stephen Harper (1959) 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, May 29, 2002.
2002

“Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.”

Frank Zappa (1940–1993) American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and film producer

Source: The Real Frank Zappa Book (1989), p. 239; this may be derived from a similar observation by Harlan Ellison which is sometimes misattributed to Zappa: "The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity."

“Canada has an experience of governance of which much of the world stands in dire need. It is a world of increasing dissension and conflict in which a significant contribution is the failure of different ethnic, tribal, religious, or social groups to search for, and agree upon, a common space for harmonious co-existence.”

Aga Khan IV (1936) 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism

Address by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Leadership and Diversity Conference, Gatineau, Canada (19 May 2004)

“I suppose, as a politician, I should be content, for the Canada Pension Plan certainly put my name in Canada's history books, and in italics.”

Judy LaMarsh (1924–1980) Canadian politician, writer, broadcaster and barrister.

Source: Memoirs Of A Bird In A Gilded Cage (1969), CHAPTER 5, The Canada Pension Plan, p. 99

“If the Europeans are telling the truth in their claim that they have killed six million Jews in the Holocaust during the World War II - which seems they are right in their claim because they insist on it and arrest and imprison those who oppose it, why should the Palestinian nation pay for the crime. Why have they come to the very heart of the Islamic world and are committing crimes against the dear Palestine using their bombs, rockets, missiles and sanctions. […] The same European countries have imposed the illegally-established Zionist regime on the oppressed nation of Palestine. If you have committed the crimes so give a piece of your land somewhere in Europe or America and Canada or Alaska to them to set up their own state there. Then the Iranian nation will have no objections, will stage no rallies on the Qods Day and will support your decision.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (1956) 6th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Translation by Islamic Republic News Agency, Dec 2005
2005, The World without Zionism, 2005

“One cannot, at once, claim to be superhuman and then plead mortal error. I propose to take our countrymen's claims of American exceptionalism seriously, which is to say I propose subjecting our country to an exceptional moral standard.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates book Between the World and Me

Source: Between the World and Me (2015), p. 8.

“I don't think, sir, that you have a right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.”

Charlotte Brontë book Jane Eyre

Jane to Mr. Rochester (Ch. 14)
Jane Eyre (1847)

“The Trans Mountain expansion is a vital strategic interest to Canada − it will be built.”

Justin Trudeau (1971) 23rd Prime Minister of Canada; eldest son of Pierre Trudeau

As quoted in Canada: Trudeau vows to push ahead with pipeline plans in spite of protests https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/16/canada-trudeau-transcanada-pipeline (16 April 2018), The Guardian.
2018

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Robertson Davies 282

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