Pierre Berton Quotes & Sayings

Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and to destroy. It is the enemy of freedom, and deserves to be met head-on and stamped out. — Pierre Berton

On September 9, the day after Prevost's armistice ends, Napoleon launches and, at great cost, wins the Battle of Borodino, thus opening the way to Moscow. The casualties on that day exceed eighty thousand - a figure greater than the entire population, of Upper Canada. — Pierre Berton

I am an atheist, a rationalist and a humanist. — Pierre Berton

I only write books about dead people. They can't sue. — Pierre Berton

The concept of barroom shoot-outs and duels in the sun have no part in our tradition either, possibly because we have had so few barrooms and so little sun. (It is awkward to reach efficiently for a six-gun while wearing a parka and two pairs of mittens.) — Pierre Berton

Will a guaranteed annual wage kill incentive among the poor? If a man is given a certain amount of security, won't he quit working? Exactly the same contention could be made about the sons of the wealthy who are left large fortunes. Yet the evidence suggests that, given economic freedom, people will generally choose to do that which interests them most. It is up to society to see that these interests are widened and that too requires investment. — Pierre Berton

The more I see of the country, the less I feel I know about it. There is a saying that after five years in the north every man is an expert; after ten years, a novice. — Pierre Berton

My best advice to writers is get yourself born in an interesting place. — Pierre Berton

My TV show enraged people. I had prostitutes on, and I treated them like real people ... I was fired from Maclean's after I wrote a piece called 'Let's Stop Hoaxing The Kids About Sex'. Now I'm the 'beloved author,' the 'beloved historian of Canada,' an icon. I get standing ovations ... I never set out to be a patriot or a popular historian. I just liked storytelling. [interview promoting Marching as to War (2002)] — Pierre Berton

A Canadian is somebody who knows how to make love in a canoe. — Pierre Berton

The nation is bound together by its creative artists and not by parallel lines of rusting steel. — Pierre Berton