Some years ago there was a study to discover the most stressful occupation. It turned out not to be the head of a large business, football manager or prime minister, but rather: bus driver.
On the same day I was sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada, I announced the most sweeping reform ever undertaken in the structure of our federal government.
Individuals have little opportunity to get elected to Parliament under the label of the government party... unless they are in good standing with the Prime Minister and pledged to be cooperative.
I was not born to be prime minister, and I'm not going to stay here until the end of my life. I'm too young for that.
I thought I could do something different from any Conservative prime minister before me. But I couldn't.
My father established the first women's university in the kingdom, abolished slavery, and tried to establish a constitutional monarchy that separates the position of king from that of prime minister.
I'm the guy everybody wanted to live next door. They just didn't want me to be prime minister.
You can't hope for a better result as a campaigner than to have the prime minister announce a major policy change within 48 hours of your documentary.
In 1995 the whole political situation was very complicated. I was the first deputy prime minister, and at the same time I had very low influence in the government.
New Zealand, by the way, where I was ambassador, has had two women prime ministers - one from either party.
I very much wanted to be editor of the 'New Statesman!' But I never wanted to be prime minister, except maybe as a little boy.
I literally touched down in Kosovo and the president, prime minister and mayor were waiting for me to get off the plane. Apparently that's unheard of. They don't wait for nobody.
I once had an extraordinary experience with former prime minister Ted Heath. Both of his eyes, including the whites, turned jet black, and I seemed to be looking into two black holes.
Baalbek is so beautiful. It is the heart of beauty in the Middle East - I want to embrace these people with my music. I will try so hard for them. Their president is a Christian, their prime minister is a Muslim. Music is for everyone.
Stephen Harper, who's the prime minister of Canada, he is saying that this - we have to give him a majority government, otherwise there will be a Separatist coalition. And he says it every minute.
In the end we are all sacked and it's always awful. It is as inevitable as death following life. If you are elevated there comes a day when you are demoted. Even Prime Ministers.
To see how many Italians are going out of Italy, the sort of exodus, a great generation leaving my country, I think is the worst nightmare for me as prime minister but also for the country, of course.
Presidents and prime ministers, whether they live in the rich or the poor world, are insulated and isolated from the devastating impact of global poverty. They read the statistics, but they rarely witness at first hand the misery and degradation of l...
I would like to sound like James Mason. I reckon if I'd had a better voice I could have been prime minister. It is the most irritating voice in public life.
You cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none.
If your only objective is to be popular, you're going to be popular but you will be known as the Prime Minister who achieved nothing.
