In recognition of the 141st birthday of the nation of Canada and the celebrations that will be held from coast-to-coast on Tuesday, July 1, the Rimbey Review is proud to offer up some very insightful and poignant quotes on why this is the greatest nation on earth and how fortunate we all are to live in Canada. Of note, the quotes are so numerous that the only option was to divide them into two groups, the second of which will be included in our July 1 edition.
Canadians are the people who learned to live without the bold accents of the natural ego-trippers of other lands.
- Marshall McLuhan
Americans should never underestimate the constant pressure on Canada which the mere presence of the United States has produced. We’re different people from you and we’re different people because of you. Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is effected by every twitch and grunt. It should not therefore be expected that this kind of nation, this Canada, should project itself as a mirror image of the United States.
- Pierre Trudeau
Canadians have an abiding interest in surprising those Americans who have historically made little effort to learn about their neighbour to the North.
- Peter Jennings
The great themes of Canadian history are as follows: Keeping the Americans out, keeping the French in, and trying to get the Natives to somehow disappear.
- Will Ferguson
Canada is the linchpin of the English-speaking world.
- Sir Winston Churchill
I think every Canadian should have a map of Canada in his or her house. It should be displayed in a place where one can sit and contemplate the wonderful vastness of this land. As Canadians we are continuously groping for an identity and a sense of love for our nation. We grapple with the concept, find it somewhat distasteful and leave it for another day. We find American flag waving, hand over heart while belting out Oh, say, can you see... too much and avoid doing the same. We admire their national spirit, but Canadians are, in contrast, understated. To understand the identity that exists in our hearts think of our sweepingly majestic home, its quiet, serene beauty. A beauty recognizable to us all. We are proud of this nation and of who we are. We just don’t say it. It’s like the map. It just sits there on the wall displaying the lines of our coasts, the bulk of our waterways, and the breadth of our northern territories. Surveying all of this leaves me in awe. It brings a tear to my eye...O Canada...
- Debora O’Neil
Whether we live together in confidence and cohesion; with more faith and pride in ourselves and less self-doubt and hesitation; strong in the conviction that the destiny of Canada is to unite, not divide; sharing in cooperation, not in separation or in conflict; respecting our past and welcoming our future.
- Lester Pearson
There are no limits to the majestic future which lies before the mighty expanse of Canada with its virile, aspiring, cultured, and generous-hearted people.
- Sir Winston Churchill
It is the task of the rising generation of Canadians to create a new confidence and a new sense of cultural and civic duty in Canada. Unless we achieve some success on this front, and I believe we are beginning to do so, the very real attractions of the vigorous society to the South of us may attract too many of our able people. Then the human resources and skills required to shape and direct a complex industrial economy will simply not be available to us in Canada.
- Mitchell Sharp
As we enter our centennial year we are still a young nation, very much in the formative stages. Our national condition is still flexible enough that we can make almost anything we wish of our nation. No other country is in a better position than Canada to go ahead with the evolution of a national purpose devoted to all that is good and noble and excellent in the human spirit.
- Lester Pearson
After all, we fought the Yanks in 1812 and kicked them the hell out of our country - but not with blanks.
- Farley Mowat
The US is our trading partner, our neighbour, our ally and our friend... and sometimes we’d like to give them such a smack!
- Rick Mercer
It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she’s something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of.
- Emily Carr
In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect.
- Bill Clinton
Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die.
- Pierre Trudeau
Vive la Canada. This country is not for sale.
- Don Sweet
I am so excited about Canadians ruling the world.
- John Diefenbaker
God Bless America, but God help Canada to put up with them!
- Anonymous
I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.
- John Diefenbaker
We’ll explain the appeal of curling to you if you explain the appeal of the National Rifle Association to us.
- Andy Barrie
In only a century and a quarter since Confederation, Canadians have shaped out of the North American wilderness one of the most privileged societies on the face of the earth. Ranking among the seven most prosperous nations in the world, Canada is rich not only in the abundance of our resources and the magnificence of our land, but also in the diversity and the character of our people. We have long been known as one of the most tolerant, progressive, innovative, caring and peaceful societies in existence.
- The Will of a Nation: Awakening the Canadian Spirit by George Radwanski and Julia Luttrell