"I bear solemn witness to the fact that NATO heads of state and of government meet only to go through the tedious motions of reading speeches, drafted by others, with the principal objective of not rocking the boat"
- Pierre Trudeau
About this Quote
This quote by Pierre Trudeau is a commentary on the ineffectiveness of NATO conferences. He is recommending that the conferences are merely a formality, with the leaders checking out speeches that have actually been composed by someone else. The primary objective of these conferences is not to make any meaningful development, however rather to preserve the status quo and prevent any conflict. Trudeau suggests that the conferences bore and lack any real purpose. He is suggesting that the leaders are not taking the meetings seriously and are not making any real effort to address the concerns at hand. This quote is a criticism of the absence of meaningful discussion and progress that is being made at NATO meetings.
"On embarking to return we could perceive no sign of One Tree Island; and as we swept down towards the sea the leafy top of a tree seen in the clear water under the boat was the only evidence of its existence; though a few hours ago it had formed so prominent an object"
"He said there is 80 of us, ready to come down and the next thing I knew is that Jo Brown dashed in and said your family has already moved and you have to move, the boat is ready to take you out. I didn't have time to ask, even ask a question"
"It's easier in some ways being on the life raft and the other guy's in the boat and you can row alongside and be supportive. In some ways, that's an easier role"
"Although I wasn't able to get a visa for Vietnam, I was able to talk with swift boat veterans to get a feel for the time and place, and I visited a tropical prison in the Philippines to get a sense of what a Vietnamese prison might have been like"
"'Weary Willie' is very real to me. He is a man who has given up. The boat has gone and left him. The cards are stacked against him. He's content to make out with what he's got. He knows he'll go no further"
