Mulroney Quotes & Sayings

Trudeau's contribution was not to build Canada but to destroy it, and I had to come in and save it. — Brian Mulroney

After my father had seen me in five or six things, he said, Son, your mother and I really enjoyed your recent film, and I must say that you're a lot like John Wayne. And I said, How so? And he said, Well, you're exactly the same in all your roles. Now, as a modern American actor, that's not what you want to hear. But for a guy who watched John Wayne movies and grew up in Iowa, it's a sterling compliment. — Dermot Mulroney

I wouldn't do anything else [besides acting], for sure. If I did, it would be music or some other pursuit in this same area. I have been acting and playing music since childhood. It's what I enjoyed most. — Dermot Mulroney

It was good but it was just a tiny bit uncomfortable because it was a day of lying in the bushes and I think I got a major muscle thing going on there! But it was good. It was fun. That is one of the things you get to do in film that you don't do, or that I don't do, in real life. I can't speak for Dermot [Mulroney]! But it was fun. — Mia Wasikowska

I wish I could say I had some sort of master plan where one role leads to the next role, but a lot of it really is persistence and luck and being prepared when you are asked to jump on a project. There isn't any one rule that I follow. Obviously, I'll always shoot to work with the best actors, directors and filmmakers. I've been incredibly lucky to be able to do that. — Dermot Mulroney

Every cabinet minister gets a mission statement from the Prime Minister. — Brian Mulroney

I commend Sri Chinmoy for his faith and serenity, and I hope he will continue to exert his calming and constructive influence on the international community for many years to come. — Brian Mulroney

Once you articulate an agenda, you have to follow it. — Brian Mulroney

I would go to them and I would explain this is the price of going forward. We're going to move ahead in all these other areas. We're moving ahead in tax reform and GST, we are moving ahead on trade, but this will not be done at the cost of the environment. — Brian Mulroney

What people actually refer to as research nowadays is really just Googling. — Dermot Mulroney

You can't be chasing 15 rabbits. Otherwise, the public mind cannot follow you. — Brian Mulroney

What's fascinating about acting is that you put yourself in somebody else's mind or in their shoes. — Dermot Mulroney

You know, what I like about 'The Family Tree' is it's a kitchen sink movie; you can't think of anything that it doesn't either throw into the story for conflict or poke fun at or attack, even, so I like it. — Dermot Mulroney

You accumulate political capital to spend it on noble causes for Canada. If you're afraid to spend your capital, you shouldn't be there. — Brian Mulroney

We created the Cabinet Committee on the Environment to review the environmental implications of all government initiatives. I think what made us successful was the fact that it was a sustained approach. We did something new every year. — Brian Mulroney

Even through my college years, I was trying out plays and shows, but I never really thought it made much sense to try to be an actor. I thought it was foolish, really. — Dermot Mulroney

It's my responsibility, and entirely my fault, Of course I regret it. It's the kind of locker-room conversation we all use, but as prime minister I shouldn't have used it. — Brian Mulroney

I don't need to prove that I'm some great international filmmaker. It's not really on my list of goals. — Dermot Mulroney

I am not denying anything I did not say. — Brian Mulroney

I was a film student. I became an actor, but I thought I'd be pursuing filmmaking originally. — Dermot Mulroney

Growing up, Paul Newman seemed like the ultimate manly actor. And then, I got to work with him and we became friends, so that was nice. — Dermot Mulroney

First, President Reagan was not enthusiastic. But I built up a relationship with him in other areas and then persuaded him that this was important to us and to me, and that we had to at least be in the process of looking at this seriously. — Brian Mulroney

I think the government has to reposition environment on top of their national and international priorities. — Brian Mulroney

And look, I was a big, brassy guy who won and won big. I did what I wanted. — Brian Mulroney

My second biggest mistake in life, for which I have no one to blame but myself, is having accepted payments in cash from Karlheinz Schreiber. My biggest mistake in life was pretending that I wasn't trying to avoid paying taxes on that money. — Brian Mulroney

The Conservatives over the years have done a great deal, from Sir John A, to Diefenbaker, and others. — Brian Mulroney

The biggest trading partner of the United States is not West Germany or Japan, it's right here. — Brian Mulroney

For example, the Prime Minister earlier this year talked about the importance of the Arctic to our future. He's right. A hundred years from now, the strength of Canada is going to be coming from our resources in the Arctic. — Brian Mulroney

If everything is very important, then nothing is important. — Brian Mulroney

There are so many demands on your time, on your resources, and on the prestige of the government. — Brian Mulroney

We decided that the environment was an integral part of our policies and the political thrust of our government. We gave it the priority and we sustained it with the money required to make it happen. — Brian Mulroney

So that was Reagan's political problem. As a rancher in California, he was an environmentalist himself. But the President of the United States doesn't control everything that happens in Washington. — Brian Mulroney

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. — Brian Mulroney

Like everyone else, I try to do quality work with great directors. But much of it has to do with luck. — Dermot Mulroney

When I appointed the Minister of the Environment to major cabinet status, the Planning and Priorities committee, the signals that that sent through Ottawa were major, because that's what the bureaucracy understands. — Brian Mulroney

You have to spend your political capital on great causes for your country. — Brian Mulroney

I pop another piece of donut in my mouth and smile. "It's fine. I won't tell a soul you checked me out."
"I wasn't - " He clears his throat. "Forget it. You're ridiculous."
I'm grinning outright now, because that's two you're ridiculouses this morning, and when he takes to repeating himself, I know I've successfully gotten under his skin.
Georgie, one; Andrew Mulroney, Esquire, zero. — Lauren Layne

I can see now a vision emerging how Canada is going to profit in the future from our Arctic resources without destroying the environment on which it is all based. — Brian Mulroney

You cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none. — Brian Mulroney

Every time I've made a plan in my Hollywood acting career, something else has happened, so I've gotten out of the habit of trying to predict the future. — Dermot Mulroney

In politics, madame, you need two things: friends, but above all an enemy. — Brian Mulroney

Page one of the script, I launch into, "How would I feel if I were in this position?" That's an actor's job. — Dermot Mulroney

And, of course, the fact that Maurice Strong, a Canadian, was in charge made it important for us to pull up our socks and become leaders in this field. Now, here is a field we should be a leader in! — Brian Mulroney

I know something great will come around the corner, and that's what I'll be doing next. — Dermot Mulroney

Whether the process proves to be Kyoto or something else, let's acknowledge the urgency of global warming. — Brian Mulroney