On Canada and being Canadian
|
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categories |
For some reason, a glaze passes over people’s faces
when you say Canada.
Sandra Gotlieb (1936- ) author & wife
of former ambassador to the U S. |
I believe that never was a country better adapted to
produce a great race of women than this Canada of
ours, nor a race of women better adapted a great
country.
Emily Murphy - (1868-1933) first woman magistrate in
the British Empire and one of the "Famous Five". Source
Women in History
|
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 part of.
Emily Carr (1871-1945) artist and
author. |
To speak a second language is a lesson in humility
and there is no reason why that lesson should be
confined to French Canadians.
Gwethalyn Graham (1913-1965) author
Source
: Canada quotes |
I feel pride every time I go into a citizenship
ceremony and I repeat the Oath of Citizenship and I
pledge allegiance to the Queen
Elinor Caplan (1944- ) former
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
Source : Speech May 22, 2001 |
Canada is pristine and absolutely gorgeous.
Julie Payette (1963- ) - Canadian
Astronaut and
former Governor General of Canada
Source: MacLean's Magazine July 1,
2004 |
My favourite Canadian thing is I feel incredibly
loved in this country. When I'm here, I feel like
people actually give a sh** about other people.
Maggie Cassella, host of Star TV's I
said so.
Source: MacLean's Magazine, July 1,
2004. |
This is my country. What I want to express is "here"
and I Love it. Amen!
Emily Carr (1871-1945)
artist and author. Source:
Hundreds and thousands ; the journals of Emily
Carr. Toronto : Clarke Irwin, 1966 Pg 101 See
also: 100 Canadian heroines : famous and forgotten
faces by Merna Forester Toronto : Dundurn Press,
2004 pg 61. |
How Canada
has dealt with its First Nations people from the
first discovery of this vast land is perhaps the
most damning chapter in our history
Lisa Wojna, author
Source: The Bathroom Book of Canadian
Quotes. |
...the
country is too young and too thinly populated to
afford an adequate field for exercise of unusual
gifts. In consequence, Canada's most celebrated
singer is seldom heard at home: the best Canadian
pictures are hung in foreign salons; the best books
are published first in London and New York.
Carrie Derick - (1862-1941) - 1st
woman university professor in Canada.
Source: "Professions and careers
open to women" by Carrie Derrick in Women of
Canada - their life and work. Ottawa : Minister
of Agriculture, 1900 SEE ALSO; 100 Canadian
heroines: famous and forgotten faces by Merna
Forester Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2004 Pg 79.
|
There's something romantic about being Canadian.
We're a relatively unpopulated, somewhat civilized
and clean, and resourceful country. I always push the
fact that I'm Canadian.
k. d. Lang (1961- ) country music
performer.
Source: Canadian women's whit and
wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York : Nine
Publishing, 2004 Pg 21. |
If it matters at all, it's because we know who we
are. I'd never leave Canada. This is my home and I
got to be everything I am right here.
Sarah McLachlan (1968- )
musician, composer and singer.
Source: Canadian Women's Whit and
Wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York : Nine
Publishing, 2004 Pg 22.. |
We only need to look at what we are really doing in
the world and at home and we'll know what it is to
be Canadian.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- ) former Governor General of Canada.
Source : The Ottawa Citizen February 5, 2005
pg B7. |
I think we are incredibly lucky here. We have this
high standard of life, no big security problems, and
I like Canadian society. I like this true openness
to cultures and religions, which I think is basic to
us; you don't find it in other countries...
Sonja Bata (1926- ) business
woman and founder of the Bata Show Museum.
Source: Profile; Sonja Bata in
Good Times
April 2004 pg. 15. |
If the national mental illness of the United States
is megalomania that of Canada is paranoid
schizophrenia.
Margaret Atwood (1939- ) award
winning author Source:
Quotable Canada; a national treasure by John
Robert Columbo (North York, Running Press, 1998)
|
The Canadian people are more practical than
imaginative. Romantic tales and poetry would meet
with less favour in their eyes than a good political
article from their newspapers.
Susana Moodie (1803-1885) pioneer
author. Source: Introduction
to Mark Hurdleston (New York ; DeWitt & Davenport,
1853) |
There isn't any one Canada, any average Canadian,
any average place, any type.
Miriam Chapin, author
Source: They Outgrew Bohemia (1960)
|
Canada preserving energy and industry with sobriety
will overcome all obstacles, and in time will place
the very poorest family in a position of substantial
comfort that no personal exertion alone could have
procured for them elsewhere.
Catherine Parr Traill (1802-1899)
pioneer author. Source: The
Canadian Settler's Guide (1855)
|
Canadians can be radical, but they must be radical
in their own peculiar way, and that way must be in
harmony with our national traditions and ideals.
Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954)
first woman elected to the Canadian Parliament
Source: Speech at Canadian Club , Toronto, Ontario
March 4, 1935.
|
The Canadian cannot get along without his newspaper
an more than an American without his tobacco.
Susana Moodie (1803-1885) pioneer
author. Source: Mark
Hurdleston (New York ; Dewitt & Davenport, 1853)
|
Canadian women, while they retain the bloom and
freshness of youth, are exceedingly pretty; but
these charms soon fade, owing, perhaps, to the
fierce extremes of their climate, or the withering
effect of the dry, metallic air of stoves, and their
going to early into company and being exposed, while
yet children to the noxious influence of late hours,
and the sudden change from heated rooms to the cold,
bitter, bitter winter blast.
Susanna
Moodie (1803-1885) pioneer and author.
Source: Roughing it in the bush pg 221, 1852. |
If these sketches should prove the means of
deterring one family from sinking their property,
and shipwrecking all their hope, by going to reside
in the backwoods of Canada, I shall consider myself
amply repaid for revealing the secrets of the
prison-house, and feel that I have not toiled and
suffered in the wilderness in vain.
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885)
pioneer and author. Source:
Roughing it in the Bush
Vol.2 1852 |
My love for Canada was a feeling very nearly allied
to that which the condemned criminal entertains for
his cell- his only hope of escape being through the
portals of the grave.
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) - early
pioneer and author. Source: Roughing
it in the Bush Vol. 1 1852 |
Has Canada no poet to describe the glories of his
parent land – no painter that can delineate her
matchless scenery of land and wave? Are her
children dumb and blind, that they leave to
strangers the task of singing her praise?
Susanna Moodie
(1803-1885) pioneer and author
|
To tell you the truth, in California I missed the
wilderness of the Canadian winter. There is
something stirring about a blizzard, something
elemental about pitting oneself against driving,
stinging snow in below zero temperatures. I often
think it accounts for the general peacefulness of
the Canadian character, all the aggressive energy
has been used up n battling and surviving nature.
Blanche Howard (1923-2014) novelist
and Canadian professor teaching in California.
Source: The
Immortal Soul of Edwin Carlysle,
1977 |
We have become a country that is willing to embrace
its past and to act to build a future together.
Roberta Jamieson (1953- )
President and CEO, National Aboriginal Achievement
Foundation Source: University
of Western Ontario, Alumni Gazette
Winter 2012.
|
Steeped in our British and French traditions,
seasoned by our Native culture, and simmered in the
broth of multiculturalism, we are a country that
loves words, ideas, and nature.
Amy Sky (1960- ) Toronto singer and
songwriter. Source: Chicken
Soup for the Soul: O Canada by Jack Canfield et all.
(Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, 2011)
|
Our people are a symphony, a multi-cultural voice
from far and wide we fought, we cried, we came and
mad the choice. Let’s sin as one and harmonize our
many different themes
and build the greatest nation four our children and
our dreams
Liona Boyd (1949- ) classical
guitarist, songwriter, and performer.
Source: Liona Boyd CD The Return
|
Whether we say it in French with an Saguenay accent
or in English with an accent from Newfoundland, and
wherever we came from or wherever we live, we all
share the most precious heritage that can be given
to humankind – our Canadian citizenship.
Kim Campbell (1947- )
first
woman Prime Minister of Canada. Source:
Chicken Soup for the Soul: O
Canada by Jack Canfield et all. (Chicken Soup for
the Soul
Publishing, 2011) |
Never in any land has the need
for intelligent womanhood been so great as in the
Dominion of Canada today. And never has the
opportunity for woman's service been as wide and
glorious
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975), feminist & first
female mayor of a large Canadian metropolitan area |
Canadians have been so busy explaining to the
Americans that we aren’t British, and to the British
that we aren’t Americans that we haven’t had time to
become Canadian.
Helen Gordon McPherson, author and
speaker.
Source: Women in Ottawa.
online
(Accessed January 2014)
|
How the air of our country is good! Pitch our tent
here! Let us live, love and die at home, in our
beautiful Canada, which is worth all the countries
in the World. This is our last impression and we
summarize in these words: long live our beloved
country.
Léonise Valois (1868-1936) poet and
journalist.
Source: Linda Kay, Sweet Sixteen :the
journey that inspired the Canadian Women’s Press
Club (McGill-Queens Press, 2012 |
We must be honest about the real two solitudes in
this country, that between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous citizens, and commit to doing
tangible things to close the divide in awareness,
understanding and relationships.
Marie Wilson (1974- ) Commissioner of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission 2015 |
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categories |
Canada is the
homeland of equality, justice, and tolerance
Kim
Campbell (1946- ) first woman Prime
Minister of Canada |
|
Canada was built
on dead beavers
Margaret
Atwood (1939- ) acclaimed author |
|
Every Canadian
has a complicated relationship with the united
States, whereas Americans think of Canada as the
place where the weather comes from.
Margaret
Atwood (1939- ) acclaimed author |
|
Your (Canadian)
roots define you for all your life, no matter where
you go, no matter what you do.
Alanis
Morissette (1974- ) musician |
|
To be complex does not mean to be fragmented. This
is the paradox and the Genius of our Canadian
Civilization.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- ) Governor
General of Canada |
|
I believe that never was a country better adapted to
produce a great race of woman than this Canada of
ours, nor a race of women better adapted to make a
great country.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- ) Governor Genera of Canada.
Source: Speech on the unveiling of
the Women are Persons Monument, Calgary Alberta,
October 18, 1999. |
|
Canada
is...the cry of the loon, Gretzky worship, rye and
ginger in a paper cup, vinegar on the fries and...
talking gas pumps.
Nancy White, singer and
artist. |
|
The beginning of Canadian Cultural nationalism was
not 'Am I really that oppressed?' but 'Am I really
that boring?'
Margaret Atwood
(1939- ) award winning author |
|
Despite what people from other countries might
think, Canada is more than just a rugged, frozen
wasteland of snow and ice, We've got it all -----
mountains, rivers, some of the largest freshwater
lakes in the world, prairies and deserts. We're
surrounded on three sides by ocean, and yes, we have
the frozen tundra of the North. But one of Canada's
striking features is its immense size occupied by a
relatively small population.
Lisa Wojna, author
Source:
The Bathroom Book of Canadian Quotes
|
|
Never at a loss for something to say, writers
throughout the ages have been prolific in expressing
the beauty of the Canadian wilderness
Lisa Wojna, author
Source:
The Bathroom Book of Canadian Quotes
|
|
One of the best
things about the North is that once you have been
there, not only the memories but also the friends
you meet there stay with you forever. It is like
joining a special club as a lifetime member, and you
never quite get over longing to go back.
Edith Iglauer (Hamberger Daly)
(1917-2019) author |
|
My great hope would be that Quebec would realize
itself fully, bringing to Canada a part of its
richness.
Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) acclaimed
author |
|
Canada is destined to be one of the great nations of
the world and Canadian women must be ready for
citizenship.
Nellie McClung - (1873-1951)
feminist, politician, and author |
|
ON
being a Girl Guide |
|
Each goal attained was like a new badge. Guiding
taught me to see goals and achieve them.
Dr Roberta Bondar (1945- ) - 1st
Canadian woman is space.
Source : Girl guide calendar
Chaque objectif attaint était comme un nouvelle
badge. Le Guidisme m’a appris ame fixer des objetifs
et à les atteindre. |
Guiding gave me self-respect and a sense of ability
to do things. It helped give me confidence as an
adult to follow my heart.
Heather Bishop (1949- )
folk singer and social activist.
Source : Girl guide
calendar1989
Le Guidism m'a appris le respect de moi-même et le
sens de la capacité de faire les choses. Il m'a
aidée à acquéir la confiance nécessaire en tant
qu'adulte, pour suivre l'élan de mon coeur. |
Guiding was invaluable in the way it helped to
develop leadership skills. It gave me confidence in
myself.
Kathy Kreiner (1957- )
Olympic gold medalist in skiing.
Source : Girl guide
calendar1989
Le Guidisme m'a rendu un service précieux en
m'aidant à développer les capacités de chef de file.
Il m'a donné confiance en moi. |
For a young Guide, Guiding was a feeling of
togetherness and team spirit, which led to lasting
friendships.
Sheila Copps (1952- )
politician and author.
Source : Girl guide
calendar
1989
à une jeune Guide, le Guidism donnait un sentiment
d'unité et l'esprit d'équipe, ce qui m'a permis de
nouer des liens d'amitié durables. |
My Guide leader taught me about kindness, helping
others and integrity and honour.
Dini Petty (1945- )
journalist and TV personality.
Source : Girl guide
calendar1989
Ma cheftaine Guide m'a appris la bonté, la nécessite
d'aider les autres, l'intégrité et l'honneur.
|
Camping with Guides was an experience in learning to
live with other people that I'll never forget.
Doris Anderson (1921-2007) - Canadian
journalist, editor, author and feminist.
Source : Girl guide
calendar1989
Aller en camping avec les Guides m'a enseigné a
vivre avec d'autres, c'est une expérience que je
n'oublerai jamais. |
I learned the priceless skills of co-operation - how
to work together towards a common goal.
Carole Taylor (1945- ) journalist, municipal
politician, and business woman.
Source : Girl guide
calendar1989
J'ai appris le aptitudes précieuses de la
collaboration - la faculté de travailler ensemble en
vue d'un objetif commun. |
Guiding opened me to the needs of the individual,
the community and of the world.
Dr. Margaret Catley-Carlson (1942-
) career diplomat and executive officer.
Source: Girl guide
calendar1989
Le Guidism m'a fait connaitre les besoins de
l'individu, de la collectivité et du monde. |
Guiding helped me to develop leadership skills,
self-confidence and appreciation of others.
Jean Augustine (1937- politician,1st black
woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons.
Source : Girl guide calendar1989
Le Guidisme m'a aidée à accquérir les aptitudes de
chef de file, la confiance en moi et l'appréciation
pour les autres. |
Guiding provided me with a sense of belonging and
achievement. Also teamwork, self-discipline and new
skills.
Maureen McTeer (1952- ) lawyer
Source: Girl guide
calendar1989
Le Guidisme m'a donné un sentiment d'appartenance et
d'accomplissement. Il m'a aussi appris le travail
d'équipe, l'autodiscipline et de nouvelles
aptitudes. |
[In Guiding] I felt a sense of camaraderie and
community I have kept all my life.
Andrea Martin (1947- ) - Canadian
Actress
Source: Girl guide
calendar1989
J'y ai connu un esprit de camaraderie et de
communauté que j'ai conservé toute ma vie. |
Girl Guides is a great organization and one that
gives you endless opportunities for girls and women
to be leaders and contribute to Canadian society.
Grete Hale (1929-1923) Board Chair
Morrison Lamothe Inc. and community leader.
Source: Canadian Guider V. 75 no. 1
Winter 2005 pg. 17. |
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categories |
ON
being a woman
|
|
Femaleness, ad
any doctor will tell you, is savage.
Dr Marion Hillard (1902-1958) medical
doctor
|
I think women can save civilization.
Emily Murphy (1968-1933) - judge and
one of the "Famous Five".
Source: Poster produced by the Famous Five
Foundation.
Je pense que les femmes peuvent sauver la
civilsation. |
In junior high a boy poured water down my shirt and
yelled: "now maybe they'll grow."
Pamela Anderson (1967-
) actor.
Source: A Canadian Woman's Wit and
Wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York: Nine
Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 40. |
People still speak of womanhood as if it were a
disease.
Nellie McClung - (1873-1951)
feminist, politician, and author Source:
A Canadian Woman's Wit and Wisdom. Compiled by Cori
Howard New York: Nine Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 55.
|
The woman who enriches her husband with her
admiration and her ready response gets her reward on
earth, from her husband
Dr. Marion Hilliard (1902-1958)
medical doctor Source: A woman Doctor
Looks
at Love and Life (1956) |
The heart of a woman is seldom cold to those who
cherish her offspring.
Catherine Parr Traill (1802-1899)
pioneer and author
Source: Canadian Crusoes
(1897) |
Go for it! and don't let the basta*** get you down.
Women can do anything!
Julia Levy, Biochemist.
Source: Claiming the Future;
the inspiring lives of twelve Canadian women
scientists and scholars. Markham, ON : Pembroke
Publishers, 1991 pg. 23
Ayez de l'audace! Et ne laisse personne vous
décourager. Les femmes peuvent tout faire!
Julia Levy, biochemiste. Source: Se Batir un avenir:
la vie facinante de douze canadiennes érudites.
Markham, ON : Pembroke Publishers, 1991 pg. 29 |
Women accomplish many things throughout their
lives, but so much of it is taken for granted and
not applauded as it should be.
Harriet Grant - author.
Source: Our Grandmothers, Ourselves; reflections of
Canadian women.
Edited by Gina Valle (Vancouver: Raincoast
Books, 1999) p. 41
|
[Mama]…maintained traditional family values and
still worked toward change. I have come to realize
that I can be a mother, educator, wife, feminist –
each identity not exclusive of the other but
impacting on each other and on my development as a
woman.
Karen Diaz - author.
Source: Our Grandmothers, Ourselves;
reflections of Canadian women. Edited by Gina Valle
(Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 1999) p. 133. |
The usual statement is that I am a remarkable woman
because I can do it; the implication is that the
average women is too dumb to succeed at a man's task
- and I resent that implication, for it is false.
E. Cora Hind. (1861-1942)
journalist and agriculturist.Source: Time Links: The historical
web site about Manitoba in the decade from 1910 to
1920.
(accessed March 2007) |
Up to the age of 18 a woman needs good parents, from
18-35 she needs good looks, from 35-55 she needs
personality and from 55 on , she needs money.
Holly Armstrong.
Public Relations consultant.
Source: Speech to the Lemington
Kiwanis Club, Liberty Magazine,
September 1963. |
Empower women and you will see a decrease in
poverty, illiteracy, disease and violence.
Speech on the
occasion of International Women’s Day Kabul
Afghanistan, Thursday March 8, 2007
Michaelle Jean
(1957- ) former Governor General of Canada
|
I
am a believer in women, in their ability to do
things and in their influence and power. Women set
the standards for the world, and it is for us, women
in Canada, to set the standards high.
1910
Nellie McClung (1873-1951) politician, author, and feminist.
Source: The rural Womyn Zone. Rural
women in Canada
(Accessed February 3, 2008)
|
Women who set a low value on themselves make life
hard for all women.
Nellie McClung (1873-1951)
politician, author, and feminist. |
People still speak of womanhood as if it were a
disease.
on rights of women 1916
Nellie McClung (1873-1951) politician, author, and feminist.
- |
I
am well aware there's always going to be men who are
physically stronger than I am. I think women make up
for that difference in mental tenacity. It is
important for women to get out and challenge
themselves There isn't anything stopping women from
doing it whatsoever.
Denise Martin, first Canadian woman to
reach the North Pole (1997)
Source: People: Denise Martin. Section 15.ca
(accessed May 23, 2008) |
Women Perhaps do things differently from men, who
would probably think more about goals and distances
and such. I think we paid attention to our emotional
wellbeing and how we could encourage each other. A
group of women out on the ice needs to be creative
about some of the physical problems we encountered.
We relied on each other. And we made just as good
time as some of the male trips.
Denise Martin, first Canadian woman to
reach the North Pole (1997)
Source: People: Denise Martin. Section 15.ca
(accessed May 23, 2008) |
And we women to whom has been committed the trust of
mothering the world must rid ourselves of fear - and
unite together in all countries to protect and save
the human race.
President's address to the
International Council of Women, Dunbroonik, 1936.
Ishbel, Countess of Aberdeen wife of
a former Governor General of Canada |
The purpose of a women's life is just the same as
the purpose of a man's life- that she may make the
best possible contribution to the generation in
which she is living.
Louise McKinney (1868-1931) member
of the Famous 5. Source:
Famous Five web site(accessed 8/9/2010) |
In those days of feminism, (the 1960's sic)
everything was new. We were making it up. We were
creating feminist theory as we went along, to the
extent where, you know, you decide not to accept the
"givens". Everything was up for grabs.
Bonnie Sherr Klein (1941- ) -
quadriplegic award winning film producer who is a
strong social advocate for making the world a better
place with the accent on disabilities.
Source: Gail Vanstone D
is for daring: the woman behind the films of Studio
D. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2007 page 131.
|
We need to support our unique qualities as women
because the world needs our qualities---consensus
building, the way we resolve conflicts-
Roberta Louise Jamieson (1953- )
first
woman chief of the Six Nations.
Source: Herstory: The
Canadian women's calendar. Coteau Books, 2006
Page 16. |
All I have to say is this. I'm sick and tired of all
this "woman" business. In all the time I've bee in
the House of Commons I've never asked to anything on
the ground that I was a woman. If I didn't deserve
it on my own merit I didn't want it! That's all I
have to say.
Speech
at women's luncheon during first C C F convention,
Regina. Saskatchewan July 1953
Agnes Macphail
(1890-1954) - 1st woman elected to the Canadian
Parliament. |
I admit to the House [of Commons], that no one has
eve objected to women working. The only thing they
have ever objected to, is paying women for working.
Gladys Strum
-
1st woman to head a provincial
political party in Canada.
|
I consider it downright impertinence for a man on a
farm to talk about supporting his wife. When she
cooks his meals and sews and mends for him and his
children from dawn until dusk, what is she doing if
she is not supporting herself
Francis Marion Beynon
(1884-1951) Canadian Writer
|
Stop giving your power away to men, to your parents
your boss, your mortgage, your religion, your
culture and your kids. Own your power by using your
voice and your creativity. Make your own decisions.
Banish fear and embrace passion. Speak your truth .
All of these things will allow you to live life
authentically --- and it is through this portal your
empowerment is achieved.
Grace Cirocco, motivational
Speaker and author. Source:
Interview with an inspiring woman by Penny.
Discovering She May 14, 2011 (Accessed December
2011) |
Culture flies like a banner of pride, Bit it also
covers a host of misogynist acts that have oppresses
women for centuries.
Sally Armstrong, author.
Source:
Sally
Armstrong, Assent of women: A New Age is Dawning For
Every Mother’s Daughter. (Vintage Canada, 2013) page
82.
|
Never in any land has the need for intelligent
womanhood been so great as in the Dominion of Canada
today. And never has the opportunity for women’s
service been as wide and glorious.
Charlotte Whitton
(1896-1975) 1st woman mayor of a major Canadian
city. |
There are two categories of women. Those who are
women and those who are men’s wives.
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975) 1st
woman mayor of a major Canadian city.
|
There are two categories of women. Those who are
women and those who are men's wives
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975) 1st
woman mayor of a major Canadian city. |
What I wanted was not shelter and safety, but
liberty and opportunity.
Martha Black (1866-1957)
Yukon pioneer, naturalist, and politician. |
Return to
categories |
People ask me
'Are you proud of the fact that you were Canada's
first woman Prime Minister?' I respond "Yes, but I
'd be prouder still to say I was Canada's tenth
woman Prime Minister.
Kim
Campbell (1947- ) first woman Prime
Minister of Canada |
There are still more areas to be conquered and more
battles to be won.
Muriel McQueen Fergusson (1899-1997) Senator |
A truly
Empowered woman turns her values into verbs. She
understands what she values most and she takes steps
to bring that value to life.
Margaret Joan Trudeau (1948-
) author, actor, photographer, and social advocate
for people with bipolar disorder |
The power of a woman's voice as a tipikeeper,
lifegiver, and nurturer carries a responsibility to
make sure I conduct myself with honour, respect, and
dignity, and that I demand that from others.
2002
Leanne Bellegarde Daniels Source:
Herstory 2004 |
...we
are in the back trenches trying to keep the home
fires burning to keep alive the fire and the warm
glow of international friendship, trying to teach
that the internationalism that is greater than
patriotism, trying to subjure that national
patriotism which teaches us to love our own and hate
every other.
Nellie McClung (1873-1951) politician,
feminist, author, and member of the 'Famous Five'
Source;
Herstory 2004 |
...we
are in the back t I think women in a particular
situation do bring a different point of view.
They look at problems a different way and they
attach different priorities. Their views are
necessair,their input is necessary...it's true
of every walk of live, every government
Department and every leve and it should be to
the highest level
Pamela McDougal, Foreign Service Officer.
Source
Margaret K. Weiers, Envoys: Extraordinary
women of the Canadian Foreign Service,
Dundurn Press 1995, Page 292.
|
Non
Canadians |
A woman is like a tea bag. You never
know how strong she is until she gets into hot
water.
Eleanor
Roosevelt - former First Lady of the US, author and
lecturer. |
Art and Artists |
Never
let it be said an artist is a wallflower. They
are typically temperamental, blunt, perceptive,
sensitive, occasionally irritable and always on
the lookout for inspiration.
Lisa Wojna, author.
Source: Bathroom Book of
Canadian Quotes.
|
Creative Art is 'fresh seeing'. Why, there is all
the difference between copying and creating that
there is between walking down a hard straight cement
pavement and walking down a winding grassy lane with
flowers peeping everywhere and the excitement of
never knowing what is just around the next bend!
Emily Carr (1871-1945) artist and author |
The people
do not exist for the sake of art, to give the
painter fame or the picture a market. On the
contrary, art exits for the sake of the people, to
refresh the weary, to console the sad, to increase
man's joy of living and his sympathies with all the
world.
Madge Young Clement
Singer and president of Brandon Art Club
|
After my
husband died I felt very alone and unwanted: making
prints is what has made me happiest since he died. I
am going to keep on doing them until they tell me to
stop. If no one tells me to stop, I shall make them
as long as I am well. If I can, I'll make then even
after I am dead.
Pitseolak Ashoona
(1904-1983) Inuit artist. |
ON art and artists |
To me any
real work of art is a living thing. It's a living
thing because the passion, the energy and the
excitement the artist experiences in creating the
piece is repeatedly transmitter to the viewer...over
and over again...literally thousands of times
through the yeas as long as the piece is hung.
Doris McCarthy
(1910-2010) eminent Canadian artist.
Source: Northern Bell: The Life and Story of
Haliburton's Ethel Curry by Robert Popple
(Haliburton, ON; R T P Publications 2003) pg 20.
|
ON Change
|
Change has to come from within. It’s ours. The
government can’t do it. Its an act of imposition and
oppression even if it’s a really good idea. Because
it’s not ours. We have to do it.
Patricia Monture-Angus (1958-2010)
lawyer, activist, educator, author, scholar, and
mother. |
Talking is the antidote for oppression and
injustice.
Sally Armstrong author.
Source:
Assent of women: A New Age is Dawning For Every
Mother’s Daughter. (Vintage Canada, 2013)
|
Once those initial steps have been taken, achieving
change is more about effort and patience.
Sally Armstrong author.
Source: Sally Armstrong,
Assent of women: A New Age is Dawning For Every
Mother’s Daughter. (Vintage Canada, 2013)
|
Change does not occur because we want it to occur or
because it’s fair for a just society. Change occurs
because people engage in the process.
Marilou McPhedran. Canadian Lawyer and human rights
advocate.
Source: Sally Armstrong, Assent of women: A New Age
is Dawning For Every Mother’s Daughter. (Vintage
Canada, 2013)
|
Return to
categories |
If you have
vision and someone doesn't share it, you either
change the person or the vision. You have to change
the dynamic. Change the environment,
change the people that share it, get into a place
when you can be satisfied and fulfilled.
Roberta
Bondar (1945- ) neurologist and first
Canadian woman in space Source:
Canadian Geographic. February 2016 Online |
|
When things
come to the worst, they generally mend
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) pioneer and author from
her book Roughing it in the
Bush |
|
Cities |
|
Toronto |
|
Some people
achieve happiness, and some just live in Toronto
Emily Murphy
(1868-1933) judge and member of the Famous Five |
|
ON courage |
Surely the true definition of courage is to do the
thing you are afraid to do
Georgia Binnie Clark (1871-1947)
-
farmer
Source: Rebel women : Achievements
beyond the ordinary ( Series - Amazing stories) by
Linda Kupecek. Canmore, AB : Altitude Publishing,
2003. |
The thing about being first is that
there are some people that take exception to you
being there.
Zanana Akande ( 1937- ) The 1st
black woman to be elected to the Ontario legislature
and 1st Canadian Black woman to be appointed to a
provincial government cabinet position.
Source: SWAY online
September 17, 2010 Accessed June 2011.
|
What
shall we say of those who have again taken their
lives in their hands and escaped to this desolate,
cold country, where they are again strangers in a
strange land...Is not the person who can improve
under such circumstances a hero....?
Mary Bibb (1820-1877) abolitionist,
first Black woman journalist in Canada.
Source: Canada. Historic Sites and
Monuments Board. Submission Report 2002 - Person
2002 page 883.
|
Return to
categories |
It's the moment
that you think you Can't , that you can.
Celine
Dionne. acclaimed singer |
|
Moral courage is
a concept that isn't talked about but is always
noticed by its absence.
Sally
Armstrong, journalist |
|
ON
Doctors and Medicine |
The secret is to
nip any mental disorder in the bud. As soon as
you're not feeling yourself, reach out and get some
help because you can quickly get better. If you get
stuck, it's so hard to get out.
Margaret Joan Trudeau (1948-
) Author, actor, photographer and social advocate
for people with bipolar disorder. Former wife of a
Prime Minister and Mother of a Prime Minister
|
Words of fire will surly be spoken in defense of the
unborn person and they will convert our hearts and
minds. They must, or our society will perish.
Ann Roche Muggeridge, journalist,
author.
Globe and Mail,
February 2, 1988 on ruling of the
Supreme Court of Canada.
Source Dictionary of Canadian Quotations by John
Robert Columbo (Toronto: Stoddart, 1991) p 2.
|
The abortion issue. It's a wonder that we still
describe it as such when neither side can bear to
listen to the other's arguments and no one can ever
really win.
Anne Collins - journalist. in an
article Birth enforcement, Saturday Night,
November 1989. Source:
Dictionary of Canadian Quotations by John Robert
Columbo (Toronto; Stoddart, 1991. p 2. |
Return to
categories |
Non Canadians |
A male gynecologist is like an auto
mechanic who never owned a car.
Carrie
Snow - American screenwriter and actor.
|
ON Education |
A girl does not – or, at least, should not – go to a
university merely to shine as clever students take
honors, get through and then do something very
brilliant. Nay, she goes – or should go – to prepare
herself for living, not alone in the finite but in
the infinite, she goes to have her mind broadened
and her power of observation cultivated. She goes to
study her own life in all the bewildering
perplexities of its being. In short, she goes to
find out the best, easiest and most effective way of
living the life that God and nature planned out for
her life.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)
- author of Anne of Green Gables. |
The
want of education and moral training is the only
real barrier that exists between the different
classes of men. Nature, reason, and Christianity
recognize no other. Pride may say Nay; but Pride was
always a liar, and a great hater of the truth.
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) pioneer
and author. Source: Life in
the Clearing, 1853 |
Educate a boy and you educate a man. Educate a girl
and you educate a family.
Adelaide Hoodless (1857-1910) -
Canadian social activist and founder of the Women's
Institutes. |
I think teenagers in the [United] States grow up too
fast. In Canada, kids are exposed to different
things. Like school is very different, it’s not
nearly as social. Canadian teenagers see it as a
much more serious place.
Neve Campbell (1973- ) - actor
Source: www. thinkexist.com |
Without knowledge the world is bereft of culture.
And so we must be educators and students both.
Roberta Bondar (1945- ) - Canada's
1st woman in space, neurologist, photographer, and
environmentalist. Source
http://www.robertabondar.ca |
A child's individuality is the divine spark in him.
Let it burn.
Agnes Deans Cameron (1863-1912) -
educator, adventurer, writer and lecturer.
Source: Lind L. Hale "Agnes Deans
Cameron" Dictionary of Canadian biography Vo. XIV Pg
169. |
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a hearth
to be lighted.
Irene Parlby (1868-1905) - politician
and member of the "Famous Five"
Source: The reluctant politician:
the story of Irene Parlby [video recording]
Toronto : White Pine pictures, 2002 (Series : a
scattering of seeds) |
There is no use trying to train the mind of a child
when his body is starved or abused...
Nina Moore Jamieson (1885-1932) -
author. Source: The Hockey
Stick (1921) |
These public schools are the bedrock of the society
we have built, and public libraries have a place
right alongside them. The two are interwoven. They
are the warp and woof of our democracy. We still
need to ensure that all our citizens have this
access to knowledge, to the skills and opportunities
that they need if they are to participate
responsibly in society. Our schools and libraries
are essential to this success, to the social
equality that Canadians are working so hard to
build.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- ) -
Governor General of Canada.
Source: Speech on the
Occasion of a Luncheon Hosted by the Regina Public
Library, Regina, Monday May 16, 2005. http;//www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4443
(accessed May 18, 2005.
Ces écoles publiques sont la pierre d'assise de la
société que nous avons bâtie, et les bibliothèques
publiques se situent au même rang. Les unes ne vont
pas sans les autres. Ensemble, elles forment la
chaîne et la trame de notre démocratie. Il faut
continuer de veiller à ce que tous les citoyens
aient accès au savoir, aux compétences et aux
occasions dont ils ont besoin pour pouvoir
participer d'une manière responsable à la société.
Nos écoles et nos bibliothèques sont essentielles à
ce succès, à l'égalité sociale que les Canadiens
s'efforcent tant d'atteindre.
Son
Excellence la très honorable Adrienne Clarkson
Source: Discours à l’occasion
d’un déjeuner offert par la Bibliothèque publique de
Regina Regina, le lundi 16 mai 2005 (trouvé May 18,
2005) |
Take a smattering of everything. Enjoy life and do
what interests you.
Charlotte Keen, geophysicist
Source: Claiming the Future; the
inspiring lives of twelve Canadian women scientists
and scholars. Markham, ON : Pembroke Publishers,
1991 pg. 19
...d'étudier
un peur de tout, de profiter de al vie de de fair ce
qui les intéresse.
Charlotte Keen, Géophysicienne
Source: Se Batir un avenir: la vie
facinante de douze canadiennes érudites. Markham, ON
: Pembroke Publishers, 1991 pg. 21 |
Education is intellectual travel - go out with
confidence and explore the world with your mind and
your own eyes.
Geraldine Kenney-Wallace,
Chemist/physicist.
Source: Claiming the Future; the inspiring lives of
twelve Canadian women scientists and scholars.
Markham, ON : Pembroke Publishers, 1991 pg. 44
Etudier, c'est voyager par l'ésprit - partez avec
confiance, ouvrez bien vos yeux, explorez le monde
en vous servant de toutes vos faculteé
intellectuelles.
Geraldine Kenney-Wallace, chemiste/physicienne.
Source:
Se Batir un avenir: la vie facinante de douze
canadiennes érudites. Markham, ON : Pembroke
Publishers, 1991 pg. 51 |
Without knowledge, the world is bereft of culture.
And so we must be educators and students both. At
some point, an educator must broaden the net to
include all issues relevant to humanity's
challenges.
Roberta Bondar (1945- ) - 1st
Canadian woman in space, photographer,
environmentalist, author.
Source: Roberta Bondar Website
http://www.robertabondar.com
(Accessed March 2007) |
The want of education and moral training is the only
real barrier that exists between the different
classes of men. Nature, reason, and Christianity
recognize no other. Pride may say Nay; but Pride was
always a liar, and a great hater of the truth.
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) - Early
pioneer and author. Source:
Life in the clearing 1853 Chapter 3.
|
If I could teach one thing to the next generation it
would be that no one should accept the status Quo
Daurene Lewis (1943-2013) 1st
Black woman mayor of a Canadian City. Source:
“She was Canada’s 1st Black female mayor” by Allison
Lawlor Globe and Mail February 12, 2013.
|
Education is the basis of everything: if education
is properly given, do we not owe it our happiness?
Does it not dictate our future?
Antoinette Gérin-Lajoie, Journalist
Source: Linda Kay, Sweet
Sixteen :the journey that inspired the Canadian
Women’s Press Club (McGill-Queens Press, 2012 |
Return to
categories |
I would rather
be on the governing board of the Canadian Radio
Corporation than on the board of the greatest
university in the world, for radio is the greatest
university. Everyone belongs to it--and no one can
be excluded because that have not passed.
Nellie McClung
(1873-1951) politician, author and activist |
|
To
rescue even one child with learning problems or
special needs from humiliation in the classroom
and at home and from lifelong feeling of low
self-esteem, is exhilarating. Equally
satisfying is seeing any grade level, the
unmotivated, under achieving, bright child who
responds eagerly to challenging program
adjustments.
Vera M. Good (1915- ) educator
and head of children's programming at TVO
|
|
Mother passed on
her skills to us girls by careful instruction and
example. Looking back on it now, it seemed at the
time Mother overworked us, but now I realize she
only wanted us to learn some basic skills. Even at
times when I was not very happy to do the work it
was part of learning.
1979
Martina Pisuyui Anoee (1933-2011) Inuit artist
Source; Herstory 2004 |
|
[children with special needs and developmental
challenges] These children also need to learn, they
should not have to stay at home because leaning is
difficult for the.
1950's
Vera Crosbie Perlin (1902-1974) advocate for rights
of disabled children
Source:
Herstory 2004. |
|
It's difficult
to learn from success. I've learned more from my
mistakes.
Louise Penny, author |
|
ON Environment |
There’s
an old saying which goes: Once the last tree is cut
and the last river poisoned, you will find you
cannot eat your money.
Joyce McLean - Canadian Director ,
Environmental Affairs, Toronto Hydro Energy Services
Inc. Source: http://canadianquotations.com |
Get outside. Be Outside. We're living in a society
where it's increasingly possible not to interact
with the natural world. That is a very dangerous
thing.
Severn Cullis-Suzuki (1979- ) - environmental
activist.
Source: Influential and intriguing
Canadians by Stephanie Kim Gibson. (Rubicon Books,
2003) |
It is not ideas alone that can stop injustices
oppression and idiocies like urban renewal or slum
clearance. It is people who have to do that.
Jane Jacobs (1944-205) -
internationally respected Urban architect.
Source: " An urban legend" by Sandra
Martin. Maclean's Vol. 110 no. 42 October 20,
1997 page 86. |
No one waves a wand and solves the world's
problem's. That's an illusion...Don't worry about
the big abstract problems. No one, not even
government can solve. Deal with problems close to
home. 1977
Jane Jacobs (1944-2005) -
internationally respected urban architect.
Source: Herstory; The Canadian
Woman's Calendar 2000 (Silver anniversary edition)
Coteau Books, 1999 page 7. |
I would rather be on the governing board of the
Canadian Radio Corporation than on the board of the
greatest university in the world, for radio is the
greatest university. Everyone belongs to it – and no
one can be excluded because they have not passed.
Nellie McClung (1873-1951)
- writer, social activist and politician.
|
Return to categories |
Who we are is often defined by what we value in the
world around us. For Canada's First Nations people,
a relationship with nature and a deep abiding
respect for the Creator are just a few of those
values.
Lisa Wojna, author.
Source: The Bathroom Book of Canadian
Quotes. |
|
Climate denial
is not just about denying the science; it's about
denying the urgency of the science
Naomi
Klein, author and activist |
|
ON equality |
My allegiance is to ideas, and most especially to
the extraordinary idea of individual Liberty.
Barbara Amiel (1940- ) journalist.
|
If members of my sex appear at times to be
inadequate, it must be because a wise God created
them to match the men.
E. Cora Hind (1861-1942)
journalist, agriculturalist, woman’s rights
advocate.
Source: The Beaver December
1994-January 1995, page 40. |
Women
should never accept the back of the bus behind men.
It is one of our traditions that there should be
balance between men and women. That doesn't mean we
should always be in front of men, but that their
needs to be a balance. Women need to know that they
can succeed.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond (1963- ) 1st aboriginal Canadian woman to be on the bench in
Saskatchewan.
Source: "Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond: a
story of determination and reward" in The
Indigenous Times. Christmas Edition 1998 Page
13. |
…the roots of CAAWS lie in the consistent
under-representation of women in all facets of sport
that has left women mute and frustrated.
The
Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women
and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS)
Source:
CAAWS online |
Feminism is based on social justice, for it claims
but the equality of rights and possibility between
men and women.
Idola Saint-Jean - 1880-1945. -
social activist.
Source: 100 Canadian Heroines :
Famous and Forgotten Faces by Merna Forester
Toronto : Dundurn Press, 2004 pg 221.
|
We still think of a powerful man as a born leader
and a powerful woman as an anomaly.
Margaret Atwood (1939- )
acclaimed author
Source: quotedb online |
I do not want to be the angel of any home, I want
for myself what I want for other women, Absolute
equality. After that is secured then men and women
can take turns at being angels.
Agnes MacPhail, (1890-1954) -
politician, Canada's 1st woman Member of Parliament.
Source : Debates of the
House of Commons February 26, 1925.
|
I consider it downright impertinence for a man on a
farm to talk about supporting his wife. When she
cooks his meals and sews and mends for him and his
children from dawn until dusk, what is she doing if
she is not supporting herself?
Francis Marion Beynon (1884-1951) -
author Source: Women in
History online |
Women should have economic security on a basis of
equality with men. No woman can be free so long as
she is economically dependent upon a man no matter
how kid or generous that man my be.
Gertrude Telford - pacifist and
social activist. Source:
Women in History online |
The women who have achieved success in the various
fields of labour have won the victory for us, but
unless we all follow
up and press onward the advantage will be lost.
Yesterday’s successes will not do for today!
Nellie
McClung (1873-1951) politician, author and
feminist.
Source: Women in History online |
"Who will mind the baby?" cried on of our public
men, in great agony of spirit "when the mother goes
to vote?" One woman replied that she thought she
could get the person that minded it when she went to
pay her taxes...which seemed to be a fairly
reasonable proposition.
Nellie
McClung (1873-1951) politician, author and
feminist. writing during the Votes for women
campaign |
That seems to be the haunting fear of mankind that
the advancement of women will sometime, someway,
someplace, interfere with some man's comfort.
Nellie
McClung (1873-1951) politician, author and
feminist. |
Women are not persons in matters of rights and
privileges.
British
North America Act, 1867. |
I do not want to be the angel of any home. I want
for myself what I want for other women, absolute
equality. After that is secured then men and women
can take turns at being angels.
Agnes Macphail (1890-1954)
first
woman Member of Parliament.
Source: Canada Monthly, June 1963. |
We sought to establish a personal individuality of
women.
Henrietta Muir Edwards (1849-1931) one of the "Famous Five"
Sources: Poster produced by the Famous Five
Foundation. |
A woman's guess is much more accurate than a man's
certainty.
Florence 'Flo' Whyard (1917-2012)
journalist and editor, former Yukon Council Member Source:
The Gazette, University of
Western Ontario, Spring 2004. |
Until all of us have made it, none of us have made
it.
Rosemary Brown (1930-2003)
social activist and politician, first black woman elected to Canadian
parliament |
To me it is a dreadful thing that women should not
only bear the physical agony of child bearing as a
result of sin or weakness, but should bear a stigma
of shame all through life when the men, the partners
in their degradation [are] not only allowed to go 'scot
free' but [are] socially accepted in the circles
from which the women are outcasts.
Cairine Wilson (1885-1962) - 1st
woman appointed to the Canadian Senate 1930. Source : "Senator Cairine Wilson -
woman" by Norma Phillips Muir in Canadian Home
Journal June 1930 pg. 96 as quoted in the book
First person : a biography of Cairine
Wilson, Canada's first woman senator by Valerie
Knowles Toronto, Dundurn Press, 1988 pg. 94.
|
Building equality is lots of mortar and once in
awhile a brick is put in place with lots more
mortar. It is a lot of work and it takes time.
Nancy Ruth (1942- ) feminist and
philanthropist, Senator.
Source: Notes from a
speech given in Ottawa October 21, 2004.
|
...women have not only proved their capacity for
governing great nations, but have shewn [sic]
wonderful capacity of affairs and proved herself to
be a true helpmate and co-worker, instead of a
servant and plaything of a man!
Anna Leonowens (1831-1915) - author
and educator.
Source: Anna Leonowens by Leslie
Smith Dow Beach, N.S. : Pottersfield Press 1991 pg
108. SEE ALSO 100 Canadian heroines; famous and
forgotten faces by Merna Forester Toronto: Dundurn
Press, 2004 pg 134 |
The true liberation of women cannot take place
without the liberation of men.
Thérèse Casgrain, (1896-1981) -
social activist. Source: A
Woman in a Man's World, 1972 |
I am absolutely convinced that women’s participation
in the life of cities and villages guarantees
progress.
Michaelle Jean (1957- )
- Governor General of Canada Speech on the
occasion of International Women’s Day Kabul
Afghanistan, Thursday March 8, 2007
Source: Governor General of Canada,
website (accessed April 2007) |
I do hope that it [women’s war efforts sic] will in
some measure open the eyes of humanity to the truth
that the women who bear and train the nation’s sons
should have some voice in the political issues that
may send those sons to die on the battlefields.’
Lucy Maude Montgomery (1874-1942)
speaking about extending votes to women. - author of
Anne of Green Gables. |
One of the things that struck me as a child was that
my own people were not in positions of authority,
and I thought that was unacceptable and I guess in a
way I felt that in some small way I would be able to
change that by going on to higher education.
Roberta Jamieson
(1953- ) first Aboriginal woman lawyer in Canada.
Source: Roberta Jamieson:
Chief Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
Contemporary Canadian Biographies. Thompson
Gale, August 2003. (Accessed online June 2008.)
|
We’re still not graduating the numbers we should be.
We could have more doctors, more lawyers, more
MBA’s. And we need them desperately. We know from
experience that when our people serve our own
people, we have incredible success. (2003)
Roberta Jamieson (1953- ) first
Aboriginal woman lawyer in Canada.
Source: Contemporary
Canadian Biographies. Thompson Gale, August 2003.
(Accessed online June 2008.)
|
Let's not confuse having some voice about family
finances, occasionally going out to work while
married, making tiny inroads into some traditionally
male professions....with domination of men. We're
still a long, long way from equality with men -- and
a thousand light years from domination. (1964)
Doris Hilda Anderson (1921-1007) -
author and social activist.
Source: Chatelaine 1964 as reported in A woman's
agenda 2003.: Celebrating movers and shakers. Second
Story Press, 2002 pages October 1-5.
|
In our day to day lives, we know the feeling of
exhilaration that comes from earning out keep, from
making our own way in life. While we need to
recognize that most need to work to support
themselves or their families, we should not deny the
pride and satisfaction that come from a productive
place in society. In our society, women were denied
that for centuries. They could work in the home, but
paid work was not an option. Women around the world
are fighting for recognition of the productive role
they play, and for access to paid work and better
work conditions. We shouldn't take what we have for
granted and we should do what is in our power to
help other women achieve their dreams.
Doris Atcheson stated in July 2004.
Nurse of World War ll.
Source: Section 15.ca (accessed June
2007). |
Promoting gender equality is not only a woman’s
issue, it is a human issue. It is a matter of human
dignity and not only fundamental justice, but
national justice.
Source: Speech on the
unveiling of the Women are Persons Monument, Calgary
Alberta, October 18, 1999
|
Return to
categories |
The message of women's liberation is that women can
love each other and ourselves against our degrading
education.
Jane Rule (1931-2007) LBTQ author |
|
Most men seem bound by some compact that women must
never again walk alone in the gardens of opportunity
or be suffered to enjoy equal access to the fruits
of knowledge or power
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975) feminist & first mayor
of a large Canadian Municipality. |
|
Speak up gentlemen: I'm not opposed to male
participation in government
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975) feminist & first mayor
of a large Canadian Municipality. |
|
It is satisfying to know that women join in this
partnership, working together 'to hold fast to basic
principles and values and to exert influence to
preserve a democratic way of life'
Gladys Porter as stated in the Nova Scotia House of
Assembly February 8, 1961 |
|
Harriet Brook (1896-1981) nuclear physicist |
|
Anything that you put equal effort into makes
you equal.
Claudia Kerckhoff-Van Wijk, acclaimed Kayaker |
|
A dollar in the
hands of a woman should buy the same as a dollar in
the hands of a man.
Joanne Thomas Yaccato, international gender finance
expert and author |
|
It all comes down to placing the same value on the
female athlete as the male athlete. Females can be,
and are, serious athletes. You can help women
understand they can find success in the long term
2001
Pat Jackson lecturer and coach
Source: Herstory 2004 |
|
ON
getting older |
I’ve never understood why people consider youth a
time of freedom and joy. It’s probably because they
have forgotten their own.
Margaret Atwood (1939- )- Canadian
author source: http//:memorablequotations.com/atwood |
Twenty can’t be expected to tolerate sixty in all
things, and sixty gets bored stiff with twenty’s
eternal love affairs.
Emily
Carr (1871-1945) - Canadian artist
source: http://www.memorablequotations.com/carr |
I am not interested in age. People who tell their
age are silly. You're as old as you feel.
Elizabeth Arden (1876-1966) -
Canadian born beauty entrepreneur.
Source :
http://www.houseofquotes.com/authors/Elizabeth_Arden.htm |
Age doesn't always bring wisdom, but I figure that
by the time you reach 60 you ought to have realized
that you can live any way you want to as long as you
can handle the fallout.
Corinne Allan, Canadian social
activist Source: Ya Ya Canada
www.yayacanada.ca/ |
This may be the only culture
[North America]
that does not respect old age, or know that the
elderly are the keepers of the stories, mysteries,
and tribal lore of the culture.
Betty Nickerson, Canadian author as
told to the annual conference of the Canadian
Association of Gerontology.
Source: Harbour Publishing
July 4, 2004. |
Age doesn't bring wisdom, but I figure that by the
time you reach 60 you ought to have realized that
you can live any way you want to as long as you can
handle the fallout. And with death skulking nearer
all the time, how bad could any earthly consequences
be?
Corinne Allan - Ottawa Ontario
Source: https://www.YayaCanada .ca/
October 2004. |
Age is just a number on your license. I may be
pushing the limits, but every day I get up to work
out, I don't feel old, I feel eager to go out and
carry out my mission.
Lori Ann Muenger - when she was 38
years old and an Olympic gold medal winner in
cycling. Source: "Olympic
track: Muenger scores sprint gold for Canada by
Timothy Carlson in Velo News: the journal of
competitive cycling. Byline dated August 22, 2004.
|
After the fruit has got its growth is should juice
up and mellow. God forbid I should live long enough
to ferment and rot and fall to the ground in a
squish.
Emily Carr - (1871-1945) Artist.
Source: Canadian Cyberquotes.
Ottawa Citizen December 31, 2004 Pg F11.
|
Sometimes very young children can look at the old,
and a look passes between them, conspiratorial, sly
and knowing. It's because neither are human to the
middling ones...
Margaret Lawrence (1926-1987) , award
winning author
Source: The Stone angel (1964)
|
Those that we envied at 20 we pity at 30.
Susanne Marney, author.
Source The Unhappy house
(1909) |
Grandmothers
should be ruling the world. I say this without a
hint of a joke. Grandmothers see the future in a way
others do not. As the world of the flesh decays,
the life of the spirit flowers. Grandmothers a a
field of wildly blooming exquisite and riotous
flowers.
Joy Kogawa (1936- ) author and
ethnic activist. Order of Canada
Source: Our Grandmothers, Ourselves;
reflections of Canadian women. Edited by Gina Valle.
(Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 1999) forward.
|
As a species, grannies are uniquely loving,
long-sighted - viscerally connected to past and
future. In a cut-flower world grandmothers connect.
Their boundless hearts encompass the generations.
Joy Kogawa (1936- ) author and
ethnic activist. Order of Canada.
Source: Our Grandmothers, Ourselves;
reflections of Canadian women. Edited by Gina
Valle.(Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 1999) forward |
Age is a cage and I go there, hands up, nudged by a
fake revolver.
Phyllis Webb, author.
Source : Small satisfaction,
1962. |
I've
reached an age where I can't use my youth as an
excuse for my ignorance any more.
Janet Bonellie,
Source: Tamarack Review No 44
1967 pg 17. |
I’m tired of this ‘senior stuff’. It’s getting
boring. I’m tired of everyone thinking I’m so great
just because I’m old!
Rosaleen Diana Leslie Dickson (1921- ) Journalist,
publisher, author, webmaster, playright, mother, and
great granny.
Source: Rosaleen Cyberqueen by Sharon
Rockey in Freelance writing. accessed April 2008) |
Another belied of mine: that everyone else my age is
an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.
Margaret Atwood
(1939 ) Award winning author.
Source:
Http://thinkexist.com
(Accessed March 23, 2008) |
[Being
retired]. I’m not held to a regular schedule as I
was during my active years and that is something I
cherish very much.”
Marjorie Bowker, (1906-2006) First woman Family
court judge in Alberta.
Source:
Marjorie Bowker, 90, judge, best selling author.
Toronto Star, September 5, 2006.
|
Twenty can’t be expected to tolerate sixty in all
things, and sixty gets bored stiff with twenty's
eternal love affairs.
Emily Carr
(1871-1945)
August 12, 1934 Source
Hundreds and Thousands; the Journals of Emily
Carr 1966 |
Life is shorter than you think There is never a way
to tell people how fast the years go by after 65.
Catherine Gildiner, Canadian Author.
Source: an observation made by an
elderly child psychiatrist in her novel Seduction
(2005)
|
Often we learn songs when it is too late to sing
Carol Parsons Author
Source: Emily Carr as I knew her ,
1954 |
Being old is really quite and adventure. You could
never imagine.
Rosaleen Dickson (1921- ) award winning
journalist Spoken at Media Club of Ottawa meeting
August 20, 2011. |
Return to
categories |
I can't be a rose in any man's lapel. At 65, most of
us still have a lot to give and a lot to contribute.
Margaret
Joan Trudeau (1948- ) author, actor,
photographer and social advocate for people with
bipolar disorder |
|
ON Heroes |
Society needs
heroes to rejuvenate, re-energize and renew itself
with visions of the possible.
That's what heroes do.Roberta Bondar. First Canadian
woman in space, photographer, environmentalist,
author.
Source:
Roberta Bondar Website
(Accessed March 2007) |
Return to
categories |
ON history |
Women’s history has taken place mostly in the
private sphere, and as such has been largely
ignored.
Nicola Lyle, Author.
Source Our grandmothers, ourselves;
reflections of Canadian women. Edited by Gina Valle.
(Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 1999) p. 85 |
The history of Acadians has never been written down
as see by its people. Its been written by historians
from outside. These historians sometimes had reason
not to write the truth or didn't know the truth or
didn't know the small things which become the big
things , the inside story, what we in France call la
petit histoire. History is made by the kings and
lords, But la petit histoire is made by the people.
Antonine Maillet, Acadian author quoted by Isabel
Vincent in the Toronto Globe and Mail, June 24,
1989.
Source: Dictionary of Canadian
Quotations by Robert Columbo. (Toronto: Stoddart,
1991) p. 3 |
Return to categories |
I want people to know that there was resistance.
Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. Many
fought back - if there was the slightest opportunity
and thousands lost their lives fighting the enemy
and working to save lives. I was a photographer...I
have photographs. I have proof.
Fajel Lazebnik
Schulman (1919- ) a photographer and
member of the Polish Resistance |
|
It
wasn't until the seventeenth century that the
adjective 'ordinary' got a bad name, when it came to
mean 'not singular ore exceptional'. ...the ordinary
woman creates knowledge out of her histor as much as
any other person
Marlene
Kadar, professor of woman's studies York University,
Toronto. Source: Herstory
2004 (2023) |
|
Canadian
Women natural scientists...are an important part of
our history, of our society, and of science: their
names and accomplishments should not be forgotten.
1976
Lorraine C. Smith naturalist and author |
|
ON housework
|
With all the technology in the 21st century why have
they not invented the self cleaning toilet bowl!
Dawn Monroe
(1945- ) Librarian, author.
Source: myself April 2008)
|
Houseworkers as unpaid and often unnoticed people in
our labour force... have to make do with moral
approval.
Source: "Angels
in the house" Herstory: a Canadian Women's Calendar
1993 Coteau Books, 1992 page 36. |
Return to
categories |
I don't work. My
husband works. He gets paid for whatever it is that
he does for those 55 hours a eek that he is not at
home. I don't get paid for anything I do , unless I
count the 'tips' that I occasionally find in the
bottom of the washing machine.
2002
Sheila
Stubbs Source: Herstory 2004 |
|
Non Canadian |
I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every
time I leave a man I keep his house.
Zsa Zsa
Gabor - American actor who was married at least 8
times! |
I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears
makes one you can ride on.
Roseanne
Barr - American actor and comedienne |
My second favorite household chore is
ironing. My first being, hitting my head on the top
bunk bed until I faint.
Erma
Bombeck - American author |
ON
fashion |
Return to
categories |
What I have to say is far more important than how
long my eyelashes are -
Alanis
Morissette - Canadian Pop singer
Source : Canquote http://www.ottres.ca/hconline/canquotes/canquote.html?message=&obnumber=2600 |
Non
Canadians |
If high heels were so wonderful, men
would still be wearing them.
Sue Grafton - American author |
ON First Nations.
|
I looked around at my culture and said what to
Indian people need? We need a sense of our own joy,
our own beauty, our own dignity, our own life and
laughter.
Buffy Sainte-Marie (1941- )
musician, singer, song writer, and First Nations
activist. |
Native issues are almost never just Native issues.
Native issues are human issues.
Buffy Sainte Marie
(1941- ) musician, singer, song writer, and First
Nations activist.
|
Native issues
are almost never just Native issues. Native issues
are human issues.
Buffy Sainte Marie
(1941- ) musician, singer, song writer, and First
Nations Activist.
|
I prefer the Indians on the score of consistency;
they are what they profess to be, and we are not
what we profess to be. They profess to be warriors
and hunters, and are so; we profess to be Christians
and civilized, …are we so?
Anna Brownell Jameson (1794-1860)
traveler and writer. |
Growing up red is not the same as growing up white;
for my people, the real people, the red men, think
our own thoughts. We have our own magic, and our own
mysteries.
Alma Green (1896-1978) Mohawk author |
I have heard and read much of savages, and have
since seen, during my long residence in the bush,
somewhat of uncivilized life; but the Indian is one
of Nature’s gentlemen – he never says or does a rude
or vulgar thing. The vicious uneducated barbarians
who form the surplus of over populous European
countries are far behind the wild man in delicacy of
feeling or natural courtesy
Susanna Moodie
(1803-1885) pioneer and acclaimed author.
|
Return to
categories |
One hardly
knows whether to take an Indian as a problem, a
nuisance, or a possibility. He may be considered
from a picturesque, philanthropic, or pestiferous
standpoint, according to your tastes or
opportunities. You may idealize him, or realize him.
Emily Murphy (1868-1933) judge and
member of the Famous Five |
|
Growing up red
is not the same as growing up white; for my people,
the real people, the red men, think our own
thoughts. We have our own magic, and our own
mysteries.
Alma Greene
(1896-1978) Mohawk author |
|
We used the land
as tools back then...We were told to make note of
the weather very carefully back then. We were taught
these things when we were very young. We were taught
to look at the sky and the land. Today we don't even
think about the weather
1993
Apphia Agolakti Awa |
|
Inuit women are
the vessels of culture, language, traditions,
teaching, and child rearing. These are the very
important qualities of governing any society.
2001
Pauktuutit Inuit Women's Association
Source: Herstory 2004 |
|
ON freedom |
Return to
categories |
I had seen their tears and sighs, and I had heard
their groans, and I would give every drop of blood
in my veins to free them.
Harriet Ross Tubman (1820-1913)
heroine and social activist against slavery.
|
ON life |
Women as well as men, in all ages and in all places,
have danced on the earth, danced the life dance,
danced joy, danced grief, danced despair, and danced
hope. Literally danced all these and more, and
danced them figuratively and metaphorically, by
their very lives.
Margaret Lawrence (1926-1987) acclaimed author.
|
If you’re not annoying somebody, you’re not really
alive.
Margaret
Atwood (1939- ) acclaimed Canadian author
Source: Canadian
Quotations. Online |
The woman who really loves her own children…is the
woman that wants to see other peoples’ children get
their chance too.
Nellie
McClung (1873-1951) Canadian author, member of the Famous Five
Source: from her book
Firing the heather. |
Nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we
die from.
Margaret
Atwood (1939- ) acclaimed Canadian author
|
Life’s an awfully lonesome affair. You come into the
world alone and you go out of the world alone yet it
seems to me you are more alone while living than
even going and coming.
Emily
Carr (1871-1945) acclaimed Canadian Artist
source:
memorable quotations
online |
Knock hard. Life is deaf.
Mimi
Parent (1924 - ) internationally known award winning
surrealist artist. Source:
Surrealist Women : an international anthology by
Penelope Rosemount (Austen, University of Texas,
1998) |
Suttee, the practice whereby the widow throws
herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, has been
outlawed in India. They still practice a subtle form
of it in Canada. You die by inches, of loneliness.
Betty
Jane Wyle - Canadian author from her book:
Beginnings : a book for widows.
|
I want to ask you gentlemen, if I cannot give
consent to my own death, then whose body is this?
Who owns my life?
Sue Rodriguez (1950-1994) a Canadian victim of A L S
( amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as
Lou Gerig’s disease). This question was
posed on a videotaped presentation to a House of
Common’s subcommittee in November 1992. Sue
Rodriguez urged amendments to the section of the
Canadian Criminal Code that makes it a crime for any
person to assist in another persons suicide |
The difference between people and rats is that
people will keep heading down the same old tunnel
even though the cheese is no longer there
Pamela
Peck - Canadian Cultural Anthropologist and author. Source:
Canadian Quotations online. |
I hope people will finally come to realize that
there is only one “race” – the human race – and that
we are all members of it.
Margaret
Atwood (1939- ) Canadian author Source:
quoted online |
Anyone who has gumption knows what it is , and
anyone who hasn’t can never know what it is, so
there is no need of defining it.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1974-1942) Canadian
author Source:
thinkexist online |
It’s how you deal with failure that determines
how you achieve success
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975) first Canadian women mayor of
a major urban centre.
Source:
thinkexist online |
Some people achieve happiness and some just live in
Toronto.
Emily
Murphy - former Judge and author of Janey Canuk.
|
Worrying helps you some - it seems as if you were
doing something when you were worrying.
Lucy
Maud Montgomery
(1974-1942) Canadian author from her book :
Anne of Green Gables, 1908 |
The purpose of a woman's life is...to make the best
possible contribution to the generation in which she
is living.
Louise
McKinney (1868-1931) one of the Famous Five.
Source: Poster produced by the
Famous Five Foundation.
La femme vit...pour contribuer le maximum à la
vitalité de sa génération. |
Every day I tell myself 'This is not a dress
rehearsal." you only get one life.
Nia Vardalos, Canadian actress and
playwright. |
Most of us do not attempt to realize a fraction of
our capabilities. Yet most of us could live not one
buy many different kinds of lives, each full,
intensive and complete.
Helen Gregory MacGill (1867-1947)
Judge and social activist.
Source: A not unreasonable claim : women and
reform in Canada, 1880's-1920's by Linda Kealey.
Toronto: Women's Educational Press, 1979 pg. 7 SEE
ALSO: 100 Canadian heroines : famous and
forgotten faces by Merna Forester Toronto :
Dundurn Press, 2004 pg 148. |
Life is something that happens to you while you're
making other plans.
Margaret Ellis Miller (1915-1994)
award winning crime fiction writer.
Source: Books and writers
online |
I tell what gives satisfaction in life: you plant a
seed and years later, you see that something is
growing. Maybe you are no more in charge, no more
connected with it but you know that it was
originally your idea; you suggest this or that
should be done. And somehow it worked out all right
and it is flourishing now. You are getting a flower
out of it.
Sonja Bata (1926-2018) business woman and
founder of the Bata Show Museum.
Source: "Profile; Sonja Batta."
Good Times, April 2004 pg 10-15.
|
I have come to believe that life
satisfaction/quality of life lies in the ordinary,
not in the exceptional. We have to be deriving
pleasure from our everyday encounters, the people in
our lives and the activities that we do routinely to
have any level of contentedness with our lives.
Dorothy "Dot" Pringle, nursing
leader, teacher and mentor.
|
It is useless grousing over the inevitable. If you
treat life as a joke and not take it too seriously,
then you will be happy here.
Monica Hopkins (1884-1974) Letter
writer and rancher's wife.
Source: Alberta Originals by Brian Brennan (Calgary
: Fifth House, 2001. ) |
Evolution of life on Earth is rooted in the theory
of survival of the fittest, favoring those with the
most adaptable gene combination.
Roberta Bondar (1945-
) neurologist
and first
Canadian woman ins space, photographer,
environmentalist, author.
Source:
Roberta Bondar Website
(accessed March 2007) |
We still need dreams as adults and it amazes me how
many people either deny themselves this experience
or are so tied to the reality of survival that they
fail to grasp the importance of being able to dream.
We’re talking conscious dreaming here as opposed to
what occurs when we are asleep, although they may be
linked subconsciously.
Roberta Bondar (1945- )
neurologist, first Canadian woman
in space, photographer, environmentalist, and author.
Source:
Roberta Bondar Website
(Accessed March 2007) |
We’re egocentric life forms. This is the cradle of
civilization, when just statically speaking there
have to be other systems out there. I mean, there
are kajillions of billions of stars -- why wouldn’t
there be other life forms.
Roberta Bondar (1945- ). neurologist, first Canadian woman in space,
photographer, environmentalist, and, author.
Source: Roberta Bondar Website
http://www.robertabondar.com
‘Roberta Bondar’s rich colours.’ by Elizabeth
Renzetti. The Globe and Mail, April 12 2005
p. 12. (accessed March 2007) |
Life’s a journey. Basically we’re just hanging out
and seeing what we can do with what we have. I
can’t imagine not exploring oneself. It’s as
important and as exploring outside ourselves.
Roberta Bondar (1945- )
neurologist, first Canadian woman
in space, photographer, environmentalist, and author.
Source: Roberta Bondar Website;
Sears-Outlook Magazine. by John Lowsbrough Spring
2006 |
No matter where you find yourself, life’s an
adventure and you’ve got to seize the moment and
take it and and go with and make something out of
it.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) author
Source: Joan Weir by David
Jenkinson, CM Magazine online
(accessed January 2007) |
Tears are the best balm that can be applied to the
anguish of the heart.
Susanna Moodie, (1803-1885) Early
pioneer and author. Source:
Roughing it in the bush, 1832.
|
I want to walk through life instead of being dragged
through it.
Alanis Morissette (1974- )
award
winning singer. Source:
thinkexist online
(Accessed March 23, 2008) |
We should regret our mistakes and learn from them,
but never carry them forward into the future with
us.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)
Internationally acclaimed author of Anne of Green
Gables. |
If
you are in the middle of a big family, as I was, you
had be able to mediate a little bit or you are not
going to survive.
Roberta Jamieson (1953- ) 1st
aboriginal woman lawyer in Canada.
Source: Roberta Jamieson: Chief Six
Nations of the Grand River Territory. Source:
Contemporary Canadian Biographies. Thompson Gale,
August 2003. (Accessed online June 2008.)
|
Never give up on anyone, or on yourself. Question
authority and never take "no" for an Answer.
Bonnie Sherr Klein (1941- ) from a
convocation Address. A quadriplegic, Klein is an
award winning film producer who is a strong social
advocate for making the world a better place with
the accent on disabilities.
Source: Celebrating Women's Achievements online
(Accessed August 18, 2008) |
I
believe...that through the sharing and development
of creative activity, people ---who, because of
their disabilities, are seen as receivers and
consumers --can become contributors and sharers.
Fran Herman ( 1927 - ) pioneer of
Music Therapy to help people achieve full potential.
Source: A woman's agenda 2003:
Celebrating movers and shakers by Helen Wolfe.
Second Story Press, 2002. |
The Creator gives everyone a unique set of
instructions...and your job is to use them to their
maximum advantage. I take that very seriously.
Roberta Louise Jamieson (1953- )
First woman chief of the Six Nations.
Source: Herstory: The Canadian
women's calendar 2007. Coteau Books, 2006. Page
16. |
Life is too short... and far too exciting---to be
lonely. And if you are blessed with good health,
please remember this: that every morning you are
able to open your eyes is a good day!
May
Ames (1920- ) actor
Source :
Making History: A celebration of Prince Edward
Island women of the 20th Century Compiled by the
Zonta Club of Charlottetown, 2000.
|
Make your goals transparent to a future partner.
Tell him where you want to go, and when. It will
always be a battle to do both, to have a family and
a career, but it is possible...! 1991
Madeleine
Blanchette
Source: Herstory: A Canadian
Woman's Calendar 2000 (Silver Anniversary
Edition) Coteau Books, 1999 Page 17.
|
Do not rely completely on any other human being,
however dear. We meet all life's greatest tests
alone.
Speech
to Ottawa Ladies' College graduates.
Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) first woman elected to
the Canadian Parliament
Source: M. Stewart & D. French
Ask no Quarter.
|
It must be a great deal better to be sensible, but
still, I don't believe I'd really want to be a
sensible person, because they are so unromantic. -
Anne of
Green Gables published 1908.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) internationally
known author of Anne of Green Gables.
|
I've done my best, and I begin to see what is meant
by the 'joy of the strife.' Next to trying and
winning the best thing is trying and failing. --
Anne of Green Gables first published 1908
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) Internationally
known author of Anne of Green Gables.
|
First be you. Get to know the fundamental you – find
the steel within you – and then nourish and polish
those talents by aiming for nothing less than the
best you can be.
Dr. Indira v. Samarasekera, President and
vice Chancellor, University of Alberta.
Source: Speech upon receiving an
honorary degree from the University of Western
Ontario June 14, 2013. |
I’ve discovered as I’ve grown up that life is far
more complicated than you think it is when you’re a
kid. It isn’t just a straight-forward fairytale.
Rachel
McAdams (1978- ) Canadian actor.
Source:
IMDB (Accessed Feb. 2012) |
Never, Never give up on yourself. You are never out
until you give your consent.
Elaine Tanner-Watt (1959- ) Canada’s greatest
female swimmer.
Source: Alchemy in our lessons. The
Elaine Tanner/John Watt Story. Quest beyond gold
online
(Accessed January 2013.) |
If you want to see change, you’ve got to make it
happen. You’ve got to get involved.
Angela Enright, Anesthesiologist.
Source: Herstory, a Canadian womens
calendar 2008. (Croteau Books, 2007)
|
Fame is a very superficial pedestal
k. d. Lang (1961- ) country music artist.
Source: Speaking of Success by
Pamela Wallin (Key Porter Books, 2001)
|
It is almost like a mantra to me: It doesn’t matter:
just keep an eye on what does mater.
Ann Madine, journalist and filmmaker
Source: Speaking of Success by Pamela Wallin
(Key Porter Books, 2001) |
The whole mountaineering experience has been
questioned, whether it’s worth risking a life. I
think that without taking an risk, you can’t achieve
anything. You can’t have an adventure without taking
risk, but they have to be calculated risks.
Urszula
Tokarska (1968 - ) first Canadian woman to climb
the world’s sever tallest mountains.
Source: Herstory The Canadian Women’s
calendar. 2007. Page 81. |
Sometimes we are warned against looking back upon
life and told that the forward look is best; but
looking back does serve many useful purposes.
Looking back brings us a deep sense of gratitude and
appreciation. Life has had its shadows as well as
its sunshine: and as we look over its story, we can
see many beautiful pages in it. The past reminds us
that we are not alone…August
9, 1936 in an article commemorating the 100th anniversary of
the founding of St. Andrew’s Church Tabusintac, New
Brunswick.
Mrs. Jarred Wishart ,
amateur historian. |
Return to
categories |
My three R's are Respect, Relationship, and
responsibility.
Judith Guichon (1947- ) Lieutenant
Governor of British Columbia 2012-2016 |
|
People genuinely happy in their choices seem less
often tempted to force them on other people than
those who feel martyred and broken by their lives.
Jane Rule (1931-2007) L B T Q 2S author |
|
I hate when people talk about reaching a potential.
I feel like potential should be something you never
reach unless you're maybe five seconds from death.
Roberta Bondar (1945- ) 1st Canadian
woman and neurologist in space |
|
If we Can see our children happy productive
citizens then we should all be proud and
satisfied.
Dorothy Charlotte Johnson (1925-2017) president
of the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada
|
|
Knowledge and
understanding empower you in life and you don't have
them you really have nothing. You're stumbling
around in the dark.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939 - ) Journalist,
broadcaster and forme Governor General of Canada |
|
And the seasons they go round and round
Ant the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
from where we came
And go round and round and round
Joni
Mitchell, (1943- ) singer & song writer |
|
Only she who attempts the absurd will achieve
the impossible.
Abbie Hoffman (1947-
sports personality and administrator.
Source: a plaque at a training
facility at the University
of Toronto. |
|
The brave who faces on all things good and all
things beautiful, and all things free, even in the
small, who give thanks for it and discovery joy even
in the here and now, they are the change agents who
bring light to all the world
Ann
Voskamp (1973- ) author |
|
Comparison is a
thug that robs your joy. Bit it is more than that -
comparison makes you a thug wo beats down somebody -
or your soul.
Ann Voskamp (1973- ) author |
|
One knows less
about one's own destiny than anything else.
Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983)
acclaimed author |
|
A poor man's road to independence is always
up-hill work. Duty fences the path on either side,
and success waves her flag from the summit; but
every step must be trod, often in ragged garments
and with bare feet, if we would reach the top.
Susanna Moodie, (1803-1885) Early
pioneer and author |
|
Bad
choices make good stories
Margaret Joan Trudeau (1948-
) author, actor, photographer, and social advocate
for people with Bipolar disorder, Former wife
and mother of a Prime Ministers
|
|
If you are healthy, don't spare yourself, Keep
active, enjoy people. You can't always so what you
want so accept what life gives and make the most of
it.
Dorothy Dworkin
(1856-1974) a founder of Mount Sinai Hospital,
Toronto. |
|
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should
smell like dirt.
Margaret Atwood
(1939- ) acclaimed author |
|
Give to other
people the love and care you have and you will
receive it back
May Gutteridge (1917-2002) social activist |
|
Too much Energy
is wasted talking and worrying about what people
think...just do!
Hayley Wickenheiser (1978- )
acclaimed women Ice Hockey player and coach.
Source:
Herstory 2004 |
|
After 50 yeas here, I'm convinced that we are
spiritual beings having a human experience. Every
day I give thanks and ask for help and guidance to
live each moment true to my values as a mother, a
woman and a human rights advocate.
Marilou
McPhedran, senator.
Source:
Herstory 2004 |
|
There are so
many things I can't control, but I've learned I can
control my happiness and what I can accomplish
today.
Helen
Kelesi (1969- ) acclaimed tennis player
Source:
Herstory 2004 |
|
...the lives of many of our working girls [are]...so
unbearable that in the end the street claims them as
easy pray.
1919
Helen Armstrong , a leader of the Winnipeg Strike
1919. |
|
Today would be a
good day to stop to recognize the role that others
have played in our lives, our heritage and the
support we have been given. It's good humility
training in appreciation of our need for one
another. 2003
Marguerite LePage Fidler (1908-2007) acclaimed
social worker . Source Herstory 2004
(#469) |
|
We
rarely are able to choose our destiny. The only
choice we have is how to respond to what happens to
us.
2002
The Doctor will not See you Now
Martha
Jane Poulson (died 2001) first blind Canadian
physician, and author |
|
Prosperity is
not simply wealth, it is richness: it is not merely
having possessions, it is possessing a passion for
life and for living.
1995
Robyn
Allan acclaimed dancer
Source:
Herstory 2004 |
|
I have see
first hand that one person's actions do make a
difference
2002
Carolyn Reicher, co-founder of the Canadian Women 4
Women in Afghanistan Source: Herstory
2004 |
|
Nothing's impossible. It's what you decide your
limits are.
Lori Ann Muenzer Olympic gold medalist in track
cycling |
|
To me, the
fundamental tales of life are: do good, do the best
you can, and reach for the stars sometimes.
Valerie Pringle, journalist and broadcaster |
|
Take your voice
to where it'll be most effective.
Buffy
Sainte Marie, acclaimed singer and activist |
|
Dose it pay to
listen? Always.
Arlene Dickinson, businesswoman and TV personality |
|
If you're going to get out there and not be prepared
to fail, you're missing out in life. Failure is half
the fun.
Jan Arden, singer-songwriter and actor |
|
Exploration is not something your retire from. It
is a part of one's life ethic.
Roberta Bondar (1945- ) 1st Canadian
woman and neurologist in space |
|
Pay attention to yourself. Build on who you are.
Become a whole person. Enjoy life.
Andrea Bain , author and TV host |
|
We shouldn't forget to be happy about celebrating
who we are and whet we'd like to become
Julie Payette, astronaut and former Governor General
of Canada |
|
We limit what we set out to do by what we convince
ourselves is realistic. But I believe in
possibilities, and sometimes we have to redefine
what is realistic.
Heather Moyse, medal winning Olympic athlete |
|
ON
life and a career |
Never retract, never explain, never apologize – get
the thing done and let them howl!
Nellie McClung (1873-1951) - Canadian feminist, Member of
parliament and author.
Source:
Canadian Quotations Online |
I am homesick. I am packing up. I am going home but
now I don’t know anymore where home is.
Marion Waddington - Canadian author
|
No. I don't think I have made it. Not until I sign a
contract!
Pauline Lightstone Donalda (1882-1970) international renowned
Canadian soprano.
Source:
Pauline Donalda : The Life and Career of
a Canadian Prima Dona by Ruth C. Brotman. |
Evolution cannot be brought about by the use of
dynamite.
Irene Parlby (1868-1965) MLA for Alberta and member of the
"Famous Five" Source:
Poster produced by the Famous Five Foundation |
I've
done my best, and I begin to see what is meant by
the 'joy of the strife'. Next to trying and winning,
the best thing is trying and failing.
Lucy
Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) Canadian author.
Source:
Anne of Green Gables, 1908 |
Having somebody that you admire and respect tell you
that you've done something well, make an enormous
impact.
Paulette Bourgeois (1951-
) Canadian
Author. Source: Meet
Canadian authors and illustrators
by Allison Gertridge [Toronto : Scolastic, 2002] |
I don't define myself by my job...what interests me
is the sort of person I am.
Kady MacDonald Denton (1941-
) Canadian
author.
Source: Meet
Canadian Authors and Illustrators by Allison
Gertridge [Toronto : Scolastic, 2002] |
I think also it is a duty I owe to my profession and
to my sex to show that a woman has the right to
practice of her profession and cannot be condemned
to abandon it merely because she marries. i cannot
conceive how women's colleges, inviting and
encouraging women to enter professions can be justly
founded or maintained denying such a principle.
Harriet Brooks (1876-1933) first
Canadian women nuclear physicist....written when she
was informed that she would no longer be employed if
she married!
Source: 100 Canadian Heroines :
Famous and Forgotten Faces by Merna Forester
Toronto : Dundurn Press, 2004 pg 54.
|
Things don't change by themselves, you have to be
active to mould the environment in which you are
going to practice.
Ginette Lemire Rodger PhD - winner of
the 2004 Jeanne Mance Award, Canada's top nursing
award. Source : Ottawa
Citizen, City Section, June 2, 2004.
|
I still get butterflies every time I step on a stage
whether to compete, present or be interviewed but I
love it. I feel more comfortable giving the audience
what I think they came to see.
Jaime Koeppe, Actor and fitness
model. Source: Canadian
Cyberquotes, Ottawa Citizen October 23, 2004. |
Applause and recognition are the handmaidens of
creativity.
Nell Shipman, (1892-1970) Canadian
born silent film star, producer and author. Source : Rebel Women; Achievements
Beyond the Ordinary. (Series Amazing stories ) by
Linda Kupecek. Canmore, AB : Altitude Publishing,
2003
|
Acting is not being emotional, but being able to
express emotion.
Kate Reid (1930-1993) actor of
stage, movies and TV. Source:
Canadian Women's Whit and Wisdom. Compiled by Cori
Howard New York : Nine Publishing, 2004 Pg 21. |
Nothing's impossible. It's what you decide your
limits are.
Lori Ann Muenzer (1966- ) Olympic gold
medalist (2004) track cycling.
Source: Athens 2004: the Olympic
Games. Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
|
Being an artist is not a career. It is a compulsive
passion that, if you're very lucky, provides both
great personal satisfaction and a lasting statement
of who and what we are as a people.
Sandra
Bromley, multidisciplinary artist.
|
No one knows the future, so you should invest
yourself as strongly and as deeply as possible in
what you like. That is the key to being happy...then
you've solved half the problems...but only half.
Fernande Saint-Martin, art historian.
Source: Claiming the Future; the Inspiring
Lives of Twelve Canadian Women Scientists
and Scholars. Markham, ON : Pembroke Publishers,
1991 pg. 16
Personne ne connait l'avenir. Alors consacrez-vous à
ce que vous aimez, allez-y aussi à fond que
possible. C'est ainsi que vous serez heureuses. Si
vous faites cela, vous aurez résolus la moitié du
problème...mais seulement la moitié.
Fernande Saint-Martin, Professeure
d'histoire de l'art.
Source: Se Batir un avenir: la vie
facinante de douze canadiennes érudites. Markham, ON
: Pembroke Publishers, 1991 pg. 18.
|
Don't ever let anyone tell you that you cannot go
through a particular door. Always be prepared to go
through an door that leads to your goal.
Ann Saddlemyer (1932- ) literary historian.
Source: Claiming the Future;
the inspiring lives of twelve Canadian women
scientists and scholars. Markham, ON : Pembroke
Publishers, 1991 pg. 41.
Ne permettez jamais à personne de vous dire que vous
ne pouvex pas vous engager dans tell our telle voie.
Soyez toujours pretes à continuer jusqu'ç ce que
vous atteigniez votre objectif.
Ann Saddlemyer (1932- ) Historienne de la
litérature.
Source: Source: Se Batir un avenir:
la vie facinante de douze canadiennes érudites.
Markham, ON : Pembroke Publishers, 1991 pg. 18.
|
A given step, however small it may appear to one,
may represent a great deal to another. Every hurdle
one surpasses makes one grow. I am just glad I was
given the opportunity, resources, and support to
surpass the hurdles that came my way.
Julie
Payette (1963- ) Canadian astronaut and first Canadian women
to board the Space Station, former Governor General.
Source: Canuck Quotes: Quotes by
Canadians or about Canada.
(accessed July 16, 2005)
|
Success is a mixture of skills, competence, luck, and
hard work: with a bit of effort, I believe the world
can be at our feet.
Julie Payette (1963- ) Canadian astronaut and first Canadian
women to board the Space Station and former Governor
General .
Source: Canuck Quotes: Quotes by
Canadians or about Canada.
(accessed July 16, 2005)
|
I have discovered that invention does not require a
prerequisite of age gender, race or ability. It
needs an eye for the obvious, an ear for the earnest
and a nose for the now, a mouth for the moment and a
touch of luck for the not-so inspired.
Marjorie Fehr, Inventor of a pet training device
Source: women of invention
online (accessed September 20,
2007) |
It was lack of beauty that drove me to clowning and
it was that clowning that eventually put me on
stage. I firmly believed that I owe whatever good
fortune that has come my way largely to the fact
that I was born without a pretty face.
Marie Dressler
(1868-1934)
Academy Award winning comic actress
Source: My own Story by Marie
Dressler, Boston, Little, Brown, 1934 Chapter 1.
|
Well thanks to God, I soon learned to be just as
happy when folks said ‘Isn’t she funny’ as if they
had ah-ed and oh-ed and exclaimed ‘Isn’t she
beautiful.’
Marie Dressler
(1868-1934)
Academy Award winning comic actress.
Source:
My own Story by Marie Dressler, Boston,
Little, Brown, 1934 Chapter 1.
|
I think Oscar Wild wrote a poem about a robin who
loved a white rose. He loved it so much that he
pierced his breast and let his hearts blood turn the
white rose red. Maybe this sounds very sentimental
but for anybody who has loved a career as much as
I've loved mine, there can be no short cuts.
Mary Pickford, (1892-1979)
Academy Award winning actress and movie mogul.
Source:
Mary Pickford Revealed. |
I used to say, just think of yourself as on a horse
with blinders on. You have a goal, go directly to
it. I didn’t get discouraged.
Elizabeth “Betty”
MacRae (1941 - ) first Canadian Woman
Neurosurgeon, Source:
Herstory: The Canadian women’s Calendar 2007.
|
I was told I should be a beautician, a hairdresser,
by a government official, because this is something
I could aspire to. Now, nothing against
hairstylists, but that’s not what I aspired to.
Roberta Jamieson
(1953- ) first Aboriginal woman lawyer in Canada.
Source: Roberta Jamieson:
Chief Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
Contemporary Canadian Biographies. Thompson
Gale, August 2003. (Accessed online June 2008.)
|
To other filmmakers with disabilities, I say,: DO
IT!. There are opportunities and there are
challenges, and there are many more films to be
made. We have our own stories and people are hungry.
Bonnie Sherr Klein
(1941- ) a quadriplegic
award winning film producer who is a
strong social advocate for making the world a better
place with the accent on disabilities.
Source: Emma Kivislid : Shameless. Interview with
Bonnie Sherr Klein. in Horizons Spring 2007
p. 38. |
Entrepreneurs need to have the sense of being
absolutely crazy about their jobs, because that
makes up for the nights you lie awake and wonder,
“how am I going to make payroll?”
Kim McArthur,
publisher of Canadian authors.
Source: Julie Maltby,
‘McArthur succeeds in print while world goes to
web.’ University of Western Ontario, Alumni
Gazette, Spring 2008 pg. 21.
|
I just do what I love to do and I love flying - I’m
fortunate enough that it has worked out. But if I
can influence not only young girls but boys to
follow their passion then that’s good.
Lt
Col. Maryse Carmichael (1971- )
Source: Herstory 2012 page 83 |
Journalism is an entrée, a free pass to slip into
other people’s skins for a brief moment and to
witness there the full expression of human nature,
from honour to evil and everything in between.
Heather Hiscox, CBC
News Morning Anchor.
Source: while receiving her honorary
degree at Western October 2011.
University of Western Ontario,
Alumni Gazette Winter 2012.
|
A presswoman’s value increases in proportion with
the development of her own character and mentality
and ability with which she responds to the need of
her time. She Must be prepared for her age. She must
never stop growing.
Isabel A. R. MacLean Editor Woman’s Page,
Vancouver Daily Province
Source:
Canadian Women’s Press Club, Triennial Report. June
1913.
|
I’ve …discovered that whatever you do pretty much
takes over if you want to be successful at it.
Rachna Gilmore (1953- ) Governor General’s award
winning young adult author.
Source: Rachna Gilmore by Dave
Jenkinson. CM Magazine 2001 online (accessed May
2014) |
It is easy to conform to avoid criticism; just be
nothing, say nothing, but there will be whole worlds
that you will never enter and exquisite joys that
you will never know the meaning of.
Flora MacDonald Denison (1867-1921) author, feminist,
and suffragist. |
I think maybe sometime we’re afraid to start things
because we’re afraid we may not succeed. It is so
much easier to be successful in our daydreams.
Rachna Gilmore (1953- ) Governor
General’s award winning young adult author.
Source: Rachna Gilmore by Dave
Jenkinson. CM Magazine 2001 online (Accessed May
2014) |
I look at the world through the prism of social
work. That’s who I am, that’s who I’ll always be.
You become a social worker because you want to
reduce human suffering. It’s not for the status.
Akua Benjamin, Social Activist. Source: Saskatoon Women’s Calendar
Collective. Herstory 2007: The Canadian Women’s
Calendar (Regina: Coteau Books, 2006) Page 66
|
Find a job to get paid doing whatever your hobby is.
I’ve had the greatest life. I don’t think I could
have chosen a better profession.
Marie Rauta, author
|
Much as I enjoy writing and teaching, they box me
in. In the kitchen, I take wings.
Madame Jehane Benoit (1904-1987) chef
and author. |
Just at little bit of this and a little bit of that
Madame Jehane Benoit (1904-1987) chef
and author |
Make any job a good job. What you do is look at your
job package and if there’s no content you pull in
strands and make it into a good job.
Janice L. Sutton, Foreign Service Officer External
Affairs. Source:
Margaret K. Weiers, Envoys extraordinary: women of
the Canadian Foreign Service (Toronto; Dundurn,
1995) p 7 |
Return to
categories |
...the
biggest challenge that I've had since I can
remember, is not having people give me the same
opportunities and the same dignity as men.
Roberta
Bondar (1945- ) Neurologist and 1st
Canadian women in space
Source:
Canadian Geographic July 4, 2016 Online
|
|
We must
open the doors and we must see to it they remain
open, so that others can pass through.
Rosemary Brown (1930-2003) social
activist, politician, first black woman member
of a provincial parliament.
|
|
|
The moment I
heard the story about his [her father] being denied
the ability to be a lawyer was the moment I decided
to become one.
Rosalie Abella (1946- ) Supreme
Court Justice |
|
|
In these
frenetically fluid, intellectually sclerotic,
economically narcissistic, ideologically polarized,
and rhetorically tempestuous times --a world that
too often feels like it's spinning out of control --
we need a legal profession that worries about what
the world looks and feels like to those who are
vulnerable.
Rosalie
Abella (1946- ) Supreme Court Justice to
the Yale University graduating class 2016.
|
|
|
There's an
old saying which goes: Once the last tree is cut and
the last river poisoned, you will find you cannot
eat your money
Joyce McLean, author and
journalist.
Source: The
Globe and Mail November, 1, 1989. |
|
|
Whether
working with found objects or a pen and paper, art
is the ability to envision something beautiful and
breather life into that image. It is incumbent upon
the person with such a gift to share it with -- and
challenge--the world around him.
Madge Young Clement
Singer and president of Brandon Art Club
|
|
|
Being a
writer or musician or painter or actor isn't just a
way to earn a meager living, it's a vocation, a
calling---it's who you are.
Lisa Wojna, author
Source: The Bathroom Book
of Canadian Quotes |
|
|
Get in
there! Don't worry you won't get tarnished -- though
you may be polished up a bit. And when you enter
politics, don't waste time trying to please
everyone. It can't be done. Just relax and stick to
your convictions.
Ellen Louks
Fairclough (1905-2004), 1st woman appointed to
Canadian Cabinet. Source:
MacLean's, August 30, 1958. |
|
|
Forget
your sex and expect no quarter.
Margaret Hyndman
(1902-1991) lawyer. Advice given to young women
lawyers. |
|
|
If you
have a dream , follow it, and be prepared to work
hard to accomplish that dream. You know you are
doing the right thing when you love what you are
doing.
Dr. Elizabeth 'Betty
MacRae, Canada's first woman neurosurgeon
|
|
|
Every
woman that takes a role in leadership moves the rest
of us forward, not only in terms of females but in
terms of the entire community.
Lynne Peterson, Mayor
of Thunder Bay, Ontario 2003 |
|
|
If
women could understand the thrills of prospecting
there would be lots of them doing it...No woman need
hesitate about entering the mining field because she
is a woman - it isn't courage that is needed as much
as perseverance.
Kathleen
'Kate' Creighton Starr Rice (1883-1964) known as
Canada's first women prospector. |
|
|
I
encourage young women to go into the skilled trades
field...Then you will know what it is to take pride
in yourself and survive in the real world.
Shelley
Harding-Smith (1955-2019) electrician, activist for
skilled trades education and Black Canadian History |
|
|
I think the
greatest thing about being a musician is that you
can travel places and pretty quickly establish
rapport with other cultures and other peoples that
you cannot maybe communicate with in any other way.
It's really more than music. It's about friendship.
1999
Jane
Bunnett , musician
Source:
Herstory 2004 |
|
|
I was born,
volunteered, trained an now nurse at the Grace. For
me, the end was too soon, and like most good things
in life you don't know how good it is until it is
gone. I only hope the wonderful memories of this
special place do not fade as fast.
2000
Tina
Codigan nurse St. John's Grace Maternity Hospital
Source: Her story 2004 |
|
|
Even before
you've earned it, treat yourself and your career
with the level of respect that you hope to one day
deserve.
Catherine O'Hara, acclaimed actor |
|
|
Just because
you're able to do something doesn't mean it fulfills
you
Evangeline Lilly, actor |
|
|
Make more time
for yourself. Simply unplug and really focus on
living in the present
Karen
Kain, acclaimed ballet dancer |
|
|
Being Black and growing up in swimming
whenever I saw someone of colour I was drawn to them
because we didn't have a lot of swimmers. Who your
parents are have nothing to do with your
accomplishments. My Mom and Dad didn't swim, but my
brother and I both did. Where does that come from? I
don't believe your dad has to be six foot for you to
be a sprinter. Not necessarily. I don't but
limitations.
Debbie Armstead, Black track and filed champion |
|
|
ON being a musician
|
|
I wanted to develop the idea of torch and twang, that’s what is
inside of me and it pretty much sums up the kind of
music that interests me.
k.d. Lang (1961- ) acclaimed singer. |
Return to
categories |
ON being an artist |
After my husband died I felt very alone and
unwanted; making prints is what has made me happiest
since he died. I am going to keep on doing them
until they tell me to stop. If no one tells me to
stop, I shall make them as long as I am well. If I
can, I’ll make them even after I am dead.
Pitseolak Ashoona (1904-1983) - Inuit
artist. |
Creative Art is ‘fresh seeing”. Why, ther is all the
difference between copying and creating that there
is between walking down a hard straight cement
pavement and walking down a winding grassy lane with
flowers peeping everywhere and the excitement of
never knowing what is just around the next bend!
Emily Carr (1871-1945) acclaimed
author and west coast artist. |
The people do not exist for the sake of art, to give
the painter fame or the picture a marker. On the
Contrary, art exists for the sake of the people, to
refresh the weary, to console the sad, to increase
man’s joy of living and his sympathies with all the
world.
Madge Young Clement, Singer and 1st
president of the Brandon Art Club, Manitoba.
|
Return to
categories |
ON
love |
The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it
was important to them. There ought to be as many for
love.
Margaret
Atwood (1939- ) Canadian author
Source: quotedb.com
|
I'm
glad my courting days were over before cars came!
There is no romance whatever in a car. A man can't
safely drive it with one arm. And loitering is
impossible.
Lucy
Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) - author of Anne of
Green Gables
Source: personal
correspondence of LMM, letter to friend 1919 |
Nothing in love is small. Those who await grand
occasions to express there tenderness do not know
how to love.
Marie-Louise-Félicité Angers - 1845-1924 first
French Canadian woman novelist.
Source: Laure Conan Angéine de
Montbrun. Quebec : Brousseau, 1884 See Also: 100
Canadian heroines : famous and forgotten faces by
Merna Forester Toronto : Dundurn Press, 2004 pg. 72.
|
Breaking a heard causes as much pain as having your
heart broken. It's just the price of admission to
the adult world.
Pamela Wallin - journalist and
diplomat.
Source: A Canadian woman's wit and
wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York: Nine
Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 60 |
Nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we
die from.
Margaret Atwood, award winning author.
Source: A Canadian woman's wit and
wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York: Nine
Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 71. |
Isn't it better to wear the love of one man than the
admiration of half a dozen?
Sara Jeannette Duncan, author.
Source:The
Imperialist (1904) |
Love is so scarce in this world that we ought to
prize it, however lowly the source from which it
grows.
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) - pioneer
author. Source: Old
Woodruff and his three wives (1847)
|
I
think countries relate to each other like kids in
the school yard...because kids and countries act the
same. It's jus that countries are bigger and have
bigger weapons to bully people with. There's a lot
of ego, a lot of "Whose got more 'Candy' whose got
more power, more people behind them.
Frieda
Wishinsky (1948- ) Canadian children's author .
Source: CM Magazine profile by
Dave Jenkinson
http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/frofiles/wishnisky
(accessed March 2007) |
One can love at even the eleventh hour, and mayhap,
the love brews the more ardent for the keeping.
Kit Coleman, (1856-1915) renowned
Canadian journalist,
Source: Linda Kay, Sweet Sixteen :the journey that
inspired the Canadian Women’s Press Club
(McGill-Queens Press, 2012 |
Return to
categories |
Love is the terrible secret people are suspected of
unless they're married, then one always suspects
they don't.
Jane Rule (1931-2007) LBTQ author |
|
The more the heart is sated with joy, the more it
becomes insatiable
Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) acclaimed
author |
|
I'm proud to be
a happily married bisexual mother. Marriage is about
love, not gender.
Anna
Paquin, award winning actor |
|
Every time I fall in love, I become absolutely,
pathologically obsessed. The moment that you have
what you wan, and you're not totally ready for it,
you become obsessed with the idea that you don't
deserve it.
Sara Quin, Singer and multi-instrumentalist |
|
ON Politics |
If you don't like bad news,
you should get out of the leadership business. Your
job is to hear as much bad news as there is out
there and to figure out ways of dealing with it.
Kim
Campbell, (1947- ) 1st woman to be Prime Minister
of Canada.
Source: Influential and intriguing
Canadians by Stephanie Kim Gibson, (Rubicon Books,
2003) |
If democracy is right women should have it, if it
isn't, men shouldn't have it.
May Clendenan, Western Canadian Women's rights
advocate, February 1915.
Source: Female Roles in
World War(Accessed May
2009.)
|
Generally speaking people think all-politicians are
crooked. But if there were, they wouldn’t go into
politics. They could make more money as crooks.
The Beaver Dec
1994-Jan 1995.
|
It is satisfying
to know that women join in this partnership, working
together 'to hold fast to basic principles and
values ant to exert influence to preserve a
democratic way of life'
Gladys
Porter, Politician, Nova Scotia House of Assembly,
February 8, 1961. |
Perhaps if I weed my father the ability to get into
Parliament, I owed to my mother the ability to stand
it when I got there.
Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) first woman elected to
the Canadian Parliament. |
The way to get things out of a government is to back
them to the wall, put your hands to their throats,
and you will get al they have.
- speech to Southern Progressive Association, Regina
Saskatchewan 1927.
Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) 1st woman
elected to the Canadian Parliament.
|
Change has to come from within. It’s ours. The
government can’t do it. Its an act of imposition and
oppression even if it’s a really good idea. Because
it’s not ours. We have to do it.
Patricia Monture-Angus (1958-2010)
Lawyer, activist, educator, author, scholar &
mother. |
Return to
categories |
Women have cleaned up things since time began, and
if women get into politics there will be a cleaning
up of pigeon-holes and forgotten corners in which
the dust of years have fallen.
Nellie
McClung (1873-1951) politician, author and
feminist. from a speech in Minneapolis May 7, 1916 |
|
Politics is an
ugly and thankless role.
Margaret Joan Trudeau (1948-
) author, actor, photographer and social advocate
for people with bipolar disorder |
|
If politics
mean...the effort to secure through legislative
action better conditions of life for the people,
greater opportunities for our children and other
people's children...then it most assuredly is a
woman's job as much as it is a man's job.
Irene
Parlby (1868-1965) women's farm leader, activist,
politician and member of the 'Famous Five' |
|
Non
Canadians |
In politics, if you want anything said, ask a
man--if you want anything done, ask a woman.
Margaret Thatcher -
former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
|
Music and
Musicians |
I wanted to
develop the idea of torch and twang, that's what's
inside me and it pretty much sums up the kind of
music that interests me. (1989)
k. d. Lang (1961-
) award winning singer |
ON poverty |
A poor man’s road to independence is always up-hill
work. Duty fences the path on either side, and
success waves her flag from the summit, but every
step must be trod, often in ragged garments and with
bare fee, if we would reach the top.
Suzannah
Moodie (1803-188) - Canadian pioneer settler and
author.
Source: http://www.canadianquotations.com/poverty.html |
Poverty is to be without sufficient money, but it is
also to have little hope for better things. It is a
feeling that one is unable to control one’s destiny,
that one is powerless in a society that respects
power. The poor have very limited access to means of
making known their situation and their needs. To be
poor is to feel apathy, alienation form society,
entrapment, hopelessness and to believe that
whatever you do will not turn out successfully.
Canadian
Royal Commission on the Status of Women, Report,
1970. |
People never knew we were poor, but out of that
poverty came the most incredible inventions - board
games, recipes...we never stopped inventing.
Lynn Johnston (1947 - ) award
winning cartoonist.
Source: Canadian Cyberquotes in the Ottawa
Citizen Thursday December 16, 2004 pg F7,
|
Honest poverty is encouraged, not despised, in
Canada. Few of her prosperous men have risen from
obscurity to affluence without going through the
mill, and therefore have a fell-feeling for those
who are struggling to gain the first rung on the
ladder.
Susanna Moodie (1803-1885) - Early pioneer and
author in Roughing it in the bush, 1871 |
That is one consolation when you are poor - there
are so many more things you can imagine about.
Anne of Green Gables first published 1908
Lucy Maud
Montgomery (1874- 1942) - author of
Anne of
Green Gables.
|
Return to
categories |
The Provinces...east
to west |
Newfoundland and
Labrador |
Nova Scotia |
New Brunswick |
Quebec
|
This
province is a country within a country. Quebec the
original heart. The hardest and deepest kernel. The
core of first time. All around, nin other provinces
form the flesh of this still-bitter fruit called
Canada.
Anne Hebert
(1916-2000), author |
Ontario |
Ontario is
the hardest province to grasp. Partly because of its
size and the diversities of its dimensions. And
because it represents the standard against which the
other regions measure their differences. And because
for many Ontario is Canada.
Heather Menzies
(1949- ) author |
Manitoba |
Manitoba is a
corruption of two Indian words Manitou napa, the
land of the Great Spirit. The Manitobans translate
it more freely as 'God's Country.'
Emily Murphy (1868-1933) judge and
one of the Famous Five |
How the sun
shines here in Winnipeg! one drinks it in like wine.
And how the bells ring! It is a town of bells and
light set in a blaze of Gold
Emily Murphy (1868-1933) judge and
one of the Famous Five |
If I'm asked
what my image of Manitoba is, the one that comes to
mind spontaneously is that of the giant plain, open,
immense, yet tender and full of dreams.
Gabrielle Roy
(1909-1983) acclaimed author |
Saint Boniface [Manitoba] breathed, prayed, hoped,
sang, and suffered in French, but it earned its
living in English, in the offices, stores, and
factories of Winnipeg. The irremediable and
existential difficulty of being French-Canadian in
Manitoba or elsewhere.
Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) acclaimed writer.
|
Saskatchewan |
Alberta |
British Columbia
|
ON
reading and libraries |
Read a lot; that's what I did. It doesn't matter
what your read --- read everything--- read what you
like.
Carol
Matas - Canadian author.
Source: Meet Canadian
authors and illustrators by Allison Gertridge
[Toronto : Scolastic, 2002] |
Read a 'Little'.
Jean
Little - Canadian author.
Source : author's web site |
Books on shelves, books on stacks on tables, books
in boxes in my basement, a tall pile of books on the
floor beside my bed...sometimes I think I live in a
very messy library!
Norah
McClintock - Canadian author.
Source: Meet Canadian
authors and illustrators by Allison Gertridge
[Toronto : Scolastic, 2002] |
The world is changing and electronic publishing is
part of threat, but there will always be a lap
waiting for a book.
Maxine
Trottier - Canadian Author.
Source: Meet Canadian authors and illustrators
by Allison Gertridge [Toronto ; Scolastic, 2002] |
Most of your brain is involved when reading than it
is when you watch television...because you are
supplying just about everything. You're the creator.
Margaret Atwood (1939- ) - Award
winning Canadian author.
Source: Canadian Cyberquotes. Ottawa Citizen,
January 2, 2005 Pg B11. |
Books can be a form of salvation, a way out of
loneliness, a method of understanding and of being
understood.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable
Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada.
Source: Speech on the
Occasion of a Luncheon Hosted by the Regina Public
Library, Regina, Monday May 16, 2005. http;//www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4443
(accessed May 18, 2005.
Les livres peuvent être d'un certain secours; ils
peuvent nous sortir de la solitude, nous aider à
comprendre et à être compris
Adrienne Clarkson Source: Discours à l’occasion d’un
déjeuner offert par la Bibliothèque publique de
Regina Regina, le lundi 16 mai 2005 (trouvé May 18,
2005)
|
That's what books did, and still do. They help us to
understand, to be hopeful, and to prepare ourselves
for what comes next.
Adrienne Clarkson(1939- ) -
Governor General of Canada.
Source: Speech on the
Occasion of a Luncheon Hosted by the Regina Public
Library, Regina, Monday May 16, 2005. http;//www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4443
(accessed May 18, 2005.
C'est ce que les livres ont fait pour eux, et c'est
ce qu'ils continuent de faire. Ils nous aident à
comprendre, à garder l'espoir et à nous préparer à
ce qui nous attend.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- ) Gouvenor
Generale du Canada.
Source:
Discours à l’occasion d’un déjeuner offert par la
Bibliothèque publique de Regina Regina, le lundi 16
mai 2005 (trouvé May 18, 2005) |
The public library really is a kind of temple, and
it ministers to the needs of the spirit as much as
it does to the requirements of our minds.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- ) -
Governor General of Canada.
Source: Speech on the Occasion of a Luncheon Hosted
by the Regina Public Library, Regina, Monday May 16,
2005. http;//www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4443
(accessed May 18, 2005.
La bibliothèque publique est réellement une espèce
de temple qui répond aux besoins de notre âme autant
qu'aux besoins de notre intellect.
Adrienne Clarkson (1939- )
Governor Generale
Source: Discours à l’occasion d’un déjeuner offert
par la Bibliothèque publique de Regina Regina, le
lundi 16 mai 2005 (trouvé May 18, 2005)
|
Our links to the past, our bonds with the present,
our path to a civilized tomorrow are all maintained
by libraries.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable
Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada.
Source: Speech on the Occasion
of a Luncheon Hosted by the Regina Public Library,
Regina, Monday May 16, 2005. http;//www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4443
(accessed May 18, 2005.
Nos liens avec le passé, nos liens avec le présent
et le chemin qui nous conduira vers un avenir
civilisé sont tous maintenus par nos bibliothèques.
Son Excellence la très honorable
Adrienne Clarkson.
Source: Discours à l’occasion d’un
déjeuner offert par la Bibliothèque publique de
Regina Regina, le lundi 16 mai 2005 (trouvé May 18,
2005) |
I'm convinced that everybody who's a writer is a
reader. Every Friday, as a child, I went to the
local library and took out the maximum six books. I
loved the library, and it was my second home, In New
York, you didn't have malls, and so kids would hang
out and socialize in the library.
Frieda Wishinsky (1948-
) Canadian children's author .
Source: CM Magazine profile by Dave
Jenkinson
http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/frofiles/wishnisky
(accessed March 2007) |
All the years I was growing up, I read constantly.
As soon as I finished one book, my father , a Rhodes
scholar and himself a great reader, would always
bring me three or four more books to read.
Joan
Weir, (1928 - ) author
Source:
Joan Weir by David Jenkinson, CM Magazine
http://umanitoba.ca/cm/profiles/weir.html
(accessed January 2007) |
I think an essential element of a picture book is
repeatability - a story involving a sequence of
emotions and ideas that the reader wants to go
through again another time. A book is an experience
and some of the not-so-goo books out there are only
a one-time experience at best. You read it, enjoy
it, fine - it's over. Kids deserve better.
Loris Lesynski, Canadian author and
illustrator of children's books.
Source: Loris Lesynski in CM Magazine online
accessed January 2007.
|
There is nothing more enriching, more readily
dynamic in the life of a community than an adequate
library.
Nora Bateson, Pictou-Antigonish
Regional Library.
Source: Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library web site
(accessed July 2015). |
Return to
categories |
The Thing that makes a book a good book to a child
is that it is an experience. The child who has read
and enjoyed such a book as grown...grained something
permanent which can never be taken away..
Lilian Helena Smith (1887-1983) the first children's
librarian in the British Empire
Source:
Believing in Books, The story of Lillian H. Smith by
Sydall Waxman, 2002. |
|
ON self confidence |
There's no magic formula for success. Ultimately,
it's about believing in yourself, making realistic
goals, believing you can achieve them and going for
them without hesitation: Live with no regrets.
Lauren Woolstencroft (1981- ) winner of 50 medals
in Paralympics skiing.
Source: Meet Olympic ski
champion Lauren Woolstencroft by Clare Tattersall in
Canadian Living http//www.canadianliving.com
accessed June 2011.
|
Whatever women must do they must do twice as well as
men to be thought Half as good. Luckily, this is not
difficult.
Charlotte Whitton - (1896-1975) first woman mayor of
a large urban Canadian city (Ottawa)
|
The hike taught me a great lesson – what men have
done, women can more than do.
Jennie
Dill - Canadian “power walker” who walked with her
husband 3,650 miles (Halifax - Vancouver).
On the way she shot a timber wolf that attacked her
husband.
Source:
www.coolwomen.ca/coolwomen/cwsite.nsf/formTimeline?OpenForm |
We all have ability. The difference is how we use
it.
Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975) - first woman mayor of a large
urban Canadian city (Ottawa). |
I saw what could be done for I had a vision of a new
world as I talked.
Nellie
McClung (1890-1954) - MLA of Alberta, author and one
of the "Famous Five"
Source: Poster produced by Famous Five Foundation |
It seems to me there is always somebody to tell you
[you] can't accomplish a thing, and to discourage
you from even attempting it. If you are going to let
other people decide what you are able to do, I don't
think you will ever do much of any thing
Katherine Stinson. pioneer aviator
well known in western Canadian skies.
Source: Rebel women :
Achievements beyond the ordinary (Series, Amazing
stories) by Linda Kupecek. Canmore, AB : Altitude
Publishing, 2003. |
Perhaps if I owed my father the ability to get into
Parliament, I owed my mother the ability to stand it
when I got there.
Agnes Macphail (1890-1854),
politician.
Source:
A Canadian woman's wit and wisdom. Compiled by Cori
Howard New York: Nine Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 97.
|
This thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling
down but the staying down.
Mary Pickford (1892-1979), movie star and
Hollywood businesswoman.
Source: A Canadian woman's wit and
wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York: Nine
Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 110 |
It's the moment you think you can't that you realize
you can.
Céline Dion (1968- ) world award
winning singer. Source:
http://thinkexist.com
(Accessed March 23, 2008) |
I wasn't built for going backwards, when I once step
forward, I must go ahead.
Katherine Ryan "Klondike Kate"
Source:
Herstory: A Canadian Women's Calendar 1994
Coteau Books, 1993. Page 94. |
Return to
categories |
My passion is
to inspire people to achieve more, to instill in the
hearts and minds of everyone that dreams can come
true where you believe in yourself
Diane
Dupuy (1948- ) author and founder of the
Famous People Players
Source:
Famous People Players Online (Accessed January 2019) |
|
Don't ever
let anyone tell you that you cannot go through a
particular Door. Always be prepared to go through
any door that leads to your goal.
Ann
Saddlrmyer (1932- ) author.
Source: Herstory 2000. |
Non
Canadians |
We cannot all do great things but we
can do small things with great love.
Mother
Teresa - world humanitarian |
|
ON
society
|
In
a society where many traditions were formed in the
first half of the 20th century and where the world
is changing, it's a good idea to revisit ideas that
haven't bee revisited for a long time.
Jalynn H.
Bennet, entrepreneur Source:
The power 50: Canada's most influential women.
National Post, March 4, 2000 |
The test of a prison system is the number of
prisoners who never return.
Comment to the Canadian Penal Conference in
Montreal.
Helen MacGill, (1864-1947) Judge and author.
Source
E. M. G. MacGill My mother the judge.
(Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1955) |
I realize it’s not through our political leaders or
huge international conferences that we are going to
see change.
Severn Cullis-Suzuki (1979…) International youth
environmental activist.
Source:
Eric Volmers, Suzuki looks south to define our
identity. Guelph Mercury, November 3, 2008 |
There’s this idea that we are looking out for each
other because we are all minorities of some sort, I
think that has been embedded into our cultural
mentality.
Severn Cullis-Suzuki (1979- ) International youth
environmental activist.
Source:
Eric Volmers, Suzuki looks
south to define our identity. Guelph Mercury,
November 3, 2008 |
Achieving multiculturalism “means the transformation
of society, the incorporation of all the goodness
and values people have brought her.”
Kogila Moodley
Source: First
Generation by Nancy Kickerbocker (Vancouver,
Asia Pacific Iniative, 1990) Page 15.
|
Return to
categories |
I wish we'd all
listen to and value each other and stop with this
racial hate stuff
Alma
Greene, Gah-wonh-nos-doh, Clan Mother of the Mohawk
and author |
|
Could we ever know each other in the slightest
without the arts.
This
quote appeared on $20.00 Canadian bank note in 2004
Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) acclaimed author
Source:
from the book La Montagne secrete/the Hidden
Mountain.
|
|
There's
too much money today, too many choices, and no
thankfulness
1991
Louise Big Plume |
|
ON Space |
To fly in space is to see the reality of earth,
alone, to touch the earth after is to see beauty for
the first time.
Roberta Bondar (1945- )
neurologist,1st
Canadian woman in space, photographer,
environmentalist, and author.
Source: Roberta Bondar web site
(accessed March 2007) |
The hardest part of my trip into space was the take
off, the landing, and everything in between
Roberta
Bondar (1945- ) neurologist, 1st Canadian woman in
space, photographer, environmentalist, and author.
Source: Speech to high school
students, Timmins Ontario, July 2017.
|
Return to
categories |
ON
sport |
Sport is a peaceful means for people to strive for
excellence and to be the best that they can be.
Conflict, armed or otherwise, is a means for people
to destroy themselves, their environment and the
potential of the universe. Sporting organizations
have an obligation to spread their message and help
young people choose between conflict and healthy
competition.
Carol Anne Letheren - former CEO &
Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Association, IOC
member in Canada. Source :
Canquote |
You need intelligence to ski. A dummy has never
succeeded in a competitive skiing--there are just
too many mental problems to cope with out on the
hills.
Nancy Greene, Olympic medalist in
skiing. Source: Autobiography
(1963) |
As an athlete it would be hard not to say that we
hope that we're at the Paralympics playing the sport
we love, fighting for a gold medal. But at the core
of it, I just want more girls playing the game at
any level. I just want as many girls on the ice
playing sledge hockey.2018
Claire Buchanan, Team Canada after
Paralympic Games 2018. |
Return to
categories |
The sport world
is a microcosm of the wider world, a reflection of
what's going on in society.
Pat
Jackson lecturer and coach Source: Herstory
2004 |
|
Never let swimming be the excuse for school, or
school be the excuse for swimming. Get time
management in both things. Sometimes on the drive to
the pool you can study. There's time for it.
Debbie Armstead, Black track and field champion |
|
ON voting |
“Who will mind the baby” cried one of our public
men, in great agony of spirit. “when the mother goes
to vote?” . One woman replied that she thought she
could get the person that minded it when she went to
pay her taxes – which seemed to be a fairly
reasonable proposition.
Nellie McClung - feminist, author,
member of the "Famous Five" |
But I do hope that it will in some measure open the
eyes of humanity to the truth that the women who
bear and train the nation's sons should have some
voice in the political issues that may send those
sons to die on the battlefields.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)
Author of Anne of Green Gables. Source:
as spoken to a reporter in 1915.
|
Return to
categories |
ON weather |
|
One this is
certain though, If you love experiencing weather
you'll love to live in Canada.
Lisa
Wojna, author. Source:
The Bathroom Book of
Canadian Quotes. |
|
Though the Canadian winter does have its
disadvantages, it also has its charms. After a day
or two of heavy snow the sky brightens, and the air
becomes exquisitely clear and free from vapour; the
smoke ascends in tall spiral columns till it is
lost; seen against the saffron-tinted sky of an
evening, or early of a clear morning when the
hoar-frost sparkles on the trees, the effect is
singularly beautiful.
Catherine Parr
Trail (1802-1899) pioneer and author |
|
Of all
Earth's varied, lovely Moods,
The Loveliest is when she broods
Among her dreaming solitudes
On Indian Summer days.
Helena Coleman
(1860-1953), poet Source:
Indian Summer 1906 |
|
ON
writing |
|
Writing
is the hardest work I have ever loved.
Maralee Grerke, Poet
Source: Late bloomer – on
writing later in life by Naomi Beth Wakan (Toronto:
Woolsack and Wynn, 2005 |
It's
the most exasperating craft, but you can't pull
yourself away from it.
Linda
Granfield - author
Source: Meet Canadian authors and illustrators
by Allison Gertridge [Toronto : Scolastic, 2002] |
Writing is like playing some sort of game...you get
so into it that the world disappears and you get to
be powerful and in charge.
Sarah
Elli - author. Source:
Meet Canadian authors and illustrators by
Allison Gertridge [Toronto : Scolastic, 2002 |
It doesn't do any good to hit the front of your
head and say 'Give me an idea!'
Monica Hughes. - author
Source: Meet Canadian authors and
illustrators by Allison Gertridge [Toronto :
Scolastic, 2002] |
I don't believe there's any such thing as making a
mistake but I believe in changes.
Brenda Clark. - author
Source: Meet Canadian authors and
illustrators by Allison Gertridge [Toronto :
Scolastic, 2002] |
A word after a word after a word is power.
Margaret Atwood ( 1939- )
international award wining Canadian author.
Source: Canadian women's whit and
wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York : Nine
Publishing, 2004 Pg 13 |
If I can write a fine sentence in one day, I can be
happy the whole day.
Claire Mckay - author.
Source: Meet Canadian authors and
illustrators by Allison Gertridge [Toronto :
Scholastic, 2002] |
I never expect to be famous, I merely want to have a
recognized place among good workers in my chosen
profession.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) -
author.
Source: The Alpine Path : the story
of my career by Lucy Maud Montgomery Don Mills, ON :
Fitzhenry and Whiteside [1974] c1917. pg. 64 |
When I say 'work' I only mean writing. Everything
else is just odd jobs.
Margaret Lawrence - author.
Source: A Canadian Woman's Wit and
Wisdom. Compiled by Cori Howard New York: Nine
Publishers Inc, 2004 pg 108 |
When I am working on a book, I often have to get up
in the middle of the night to add something, or
write down an idea.
Madge MacBeth (1878-1965) - prolific
multimedia author. Source: No
Daughter of mine: The women and history of the
Canadian women's press club 1904-1971 by Kay Rex
(Toronto, Cedar Cave Publishing, 1995)
|
I'm inspired every morning at half-past nine.
Writing is a habit and once you get it, something
inside helps you to go on.
Madge MacBeth,(1878-1965) prolific
multimedia author.
Source:
No Daughter of mine: The women and history of the
Canadian women's press club 1904-1971 by Kay Rex
(Toronto, Cedar Cave Publishing, 1995)
|
In the only address that I made, I said that I
thought of the writers of this country as being
members of a kind of tribe…there is still that
tremendous sense of belonging to a community. And we
all need that sense of community.
Margaret Lawrence (1926-1987) - acclaimed author.
|
I get ideas for books from life, mostly my own life,
but sometimes it's something that a kid says.
Frieda Wishinsky (1948- ) -
children's author . Source: CM
Magazine profile by Dave Jenkinson online
(accessed March 2007) |
Growing Up, I always wanted to write. When I was a
child I used to write things and read them to my dog
who loved them and
that encouraged me.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) author
Source: Joan Weird Jenkinson, CM Magazine
online
(accessed January 2007) |
My historical novels all grow from the research I
have done for my histories…That provides the
background – sometimes relationships – and often
some of the conflict. Then I bring the stories to
life and involve the reader by introducing and
developing my characters.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) - author
Source: Joan Weir by David Jenkinson, CM Magazine
online
(accessed January 2007) |
One of the most fascinating things about writing is
that the characters really do become real people.
It’s almost as if you know them, and you find
yourself talking to them.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) - author
Source: Joan Weir by David
Jenkinson, CM Magazine
online
(accessed January 2007) |
I have to know “why” I’m writing the book before I
start. I don’t know the ending. I think the ending
has to grow out of what happens as your characters
suddenly take on a life of their own which is
greater than you thought when you started. It’s out
of their growth that the ending grows. And very
often the ending isn’t what you thought, even in a
sort of vague way, that it was going to be at all.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) - author Source: Joan Weir by David
Jenkinson, CM Magazine
(accessed January 2007)
|
Mysteries are like a crossword puzzle, and you have
to write them backwards. All the time you’re
writing, you’ve got to be setting the bona fide
clues because you have to play faire with the
reader; however, you’ve got to cover them in such a
way that they aren’t necessarily seen as clues at
the time. At the same time, you’ve got to lay all
the false leads, and then you’ve got to know where
you’re going yourself. You have to think almost in
terms of knowing the end before you write the
beginning!
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) - author
Source: Joan Weir by David
Jenkinson, CM Magazine
(accessed January 2007) |
I can’t sit down and say “I think I will write a
book. What will I write?’ In the back of my mind, I
have to have something that’s needling at me all the
time, saying ‘Write me! Write me!’ Then I say to
myself. “I’ve got to write that book.’ Because I
really want to get those ideas out.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) - author
Source: Joan Weir by David
Jenkinson, CM Magazine
(accessed January 2007) |
The only way I can write is for my subconscious to
take over so that, when I’m doing something else,
perhaps when I’m in the shower or getting dinner
ready, suddenly something clicks and that’s what
I’ve got to do with so and so”. I immediately get a
piece of paper and write id down because if I
don’t, I forget.
Joan Weir, (1928 - ) - author
Source: Joan Weir by David
Jenkinson, CM Magazine
(accessed January 2007) |
No writing in Canada carries such influence as
journalism. People who seldom or never read a book,
read the newspapers.
Maza de la Roche (1897-1961) -
author, the introduction to Northern lights, 1960.
|
A writer's mind seems to be stimulated partly in the
solar plexus and partly in the head.
Ethel Wilson - author.
Source: Canadian Literature , Fall
1959. |
Get to the point as directly as you can, never use a
big word if a little one will do.
Emilie Carr (1871-1945) - artist &
author.
Source: Growing pains, 1946.
|
It was absolutely necessary that I should be on the
scene where my story was laid.
Margaret Marshall Saunders
(1861-1947) award
winning author.
Source: The story of my life, Margaret Marshall
Saunders, Ontario Library Review 1927 pg. 225. |
Writing is like a bonsai. It takes a lot of effort,
patience and careful pruning. At the end of it all,
one runs the risk of hearing an unimaginative
viewer/reader call it nothing but a mere stunted
creation. I write storylines prolifically in my
head, a minimal quantity of which is written down on
paper, of which a trickle is sent out, of which a
reasonable ratio gets into print.
Uma Parameswaran - award winning author.
Source: Manitoba Author
Publication List – online (Accessed May 28, 2008 |
Read a lot. Write something every day. On outline is
useful if you are working on a long piece. For
poetry, get someone else to read the draft aloud –
your choice of words should be such that they force
someone other than yourself to read it the same way
you would.
Uma Parameswaran -
award winning author.
Source: Manitoba Author Publication
List – online (Accessed May 28, 2008.
|
I haven't written a book where I didn't have
something I felt deeply about and that I wanted to
explore.
Karleen Bradford (1936- ) - author of books for
youth.
Source: "Karleen Bradford: Nomad
scribe". by Maureen Sarvie. in Quill and Quire
August 1996 Online Accessed July 2011.
|
When people ask me for advice on how to become a
writer I say first of all, you just write, write and
write some more. And the next thing I tell them is
to read, read, and read some more.
Karleen Bradford (1936- ) - author of books for
youth.
Source: "Karleen Bradford: Nomad
scribe". by Maureen Sarvie. in Quill and Quire
August 1996 Online (Accessed July 2011).
|
As I see it, the greatest asset for a reporter is to
feel what you’re writing about, so that when you
come upon a story you fee a lump rise in your throat
and when you recognize an injustice, feel that a
wrong has been done I don’t think anybody should
take up pencil and Peace to write a story unless
they can first feel it.
Margaret “Ma” Murray (1888-1982) editor and
journalist of Alaska Highway News.
Source:
“Ma Murray: Fighting Editor of the Peace” by Stephen
Franklin in Weekend Magazine Vol. 8 No. 23 1958 |
I write because I still believe that words have
magic, that they can change things…
Lorna Crozier , Canadian author.
Source: Herstory: the Canadian
Women’s Calendar 2012 page 91. |
Writing for me is very much an exploration. I look
for answers that I don’t even know the questions to.
Often I write to find the questions and maybe some
direction to the answer.
Rachna Gilmore (1953- ) - Governor General’s award
winning author.
Source:
Rachna Gilmore by Dave Jenkinson. CM Magazine 2001
online (Accessed May 2014) |
When I write a story, I always do the research
afterwards because I want the creative leap of the
imagination and its truth to come first. Only then
can I do the research and wee where it fits.
Rachna Gilmore (1953- ) Governor General’s award
winning author.
Source: Rachna Gilmore by Dave
Jenkinson. CM Magazine 2001 online (Accessed May
2014) |
Like every other form of art, literature is no more
and nothing less than a matter of life and death.
The only question work asking about a story – or a
poem, or a piece of sculpture, or a new concert hall
0 is, is it dead or alive? If a work of the
imagination needs to be coaxed into life, it is
better scrapped and forgotten.
Mavis Gallant (1922-2014) - acclaimed author.
|
In Canada, the
literary imagination is the writers conscience in
action.
Susan Swan author. |
I have had a profoundly satisfying career in part
because I believe (with both the prose and the
passion in me) in the power of literature to connect
us, to teach us empathy, to help us walk in another
person’s shoes, to wee with anther person’s eyes. I
Believe – despite our ongoing, manifold, terrible
failures to
connect, to understand, to change our ways –that
literature does great good in the world, and that
without it we would be truly lost.
Constance Rooke ( -2008) Author.
|
Return to
categories |
The real power of books is their deep
companionability. We learn from them as we learn
from the deep companionability of love to know our
own hearts and minds better
Jane Rule (1931-2007) acclaimed LBTQ author |
I've never bee
resigned to ready made ideas as I was to ready-mace
clothes, perhaps because although I couldn't sew, I
could think.
Jane
Rule (1931-2007) LBTQ author |
Every artist seems to me to have the job of bearing
witness to the world we live in. To some extent I
think of all of us as artists, because we have
voices and we are each of us unique.
Jane Rule (1931-2007) LBTQ author |
The wastepaper
basket is your friend. It was invented for you by
God.
Margaret Atwood ( 1939- )
international award wining Canadian author. |
I have to say
here that Canadian literature, coast to coast, is
literally squirming with fish. I could have done a
whole anthologh of fish stories alone. Seems they're
as important in the minds of writers as they are in
those of government negotiators, a rare overlap.
Margaret Atwood (1939-
) award winning author |
[poetry]] is the first and last high emotion, an
instrument that thrills the soul, not only by what
it reveals but what it suggests.
Margaret Furness
MacLeod (1883-1977) poet |
If people criticize your work or give you advice,
listen to what they have to say, think about it, but
make up your own mind as to whether you think it is
useful or valid.
Gillian Chan
(1953- ) author of books for children
and teens |
Miscellaneous |
|
In many places, women’s intelligence is an untapped
resource. If you foster it, the benefits spill over
from the domestic sphere into public life.
Sally Armstrong, author.
Source: Sally Armstrong, Assent of women: A New Age
is Dawning For Every Mother’s Daughter. (Vintage
Canada, 2013) .
|
Being in a leadership position does not make you a
leader. ...Leaders are identified by a community.
You become identified as a leader when others
recognize that you contribute to some meaningful
change. 2005
Akuda Benjamin Social activist.
Source: Profiles of Peaceful women
by Sierra Bacquie on Section15.ca Accessed June
2011.
|
There is a kind
of glory in sudden death: to go down at the peak of
one's powers with both achievement and potential
untarnished, all flags flying. The light is snapped
off before it has had a chance to dim or fade, One
giant step into the next world. But O pity the
survivors.
Betty Jane Wylie, author.
Source: Beginnings, a book for widows. 1977 |
There are two kinds of art, man art and woman art.
They are two different kinds of people, so the art
comes out differently.
Joyce Wieland, (1931-1998) artist.
Source: Women in the arts in
Canada, by Sandra Gwyn . Status of Women studies.
Royal Commission on the Status of Women. 1971. |
In the scrolls of the future it is already written
that the centre of the Empire must shift, and where,
if not to Canada?
Sara Jeanette Duncan (1862-1922)
author. Source: The
Imperialist, 1904 Pg 399.
|
Behind every successful man is a surprised woman.
Maryon Pearson (1901-1989) - wife
or former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
|
Snow in April is abominable', said Anne. 'Like a
slap in the face when you expected a kiss.'
Lucy Maude Montgomery (1874-1942) author of Anne of Ingleside,
|
Television without an audience is like doing summer
stock in an iron lung
Beatrice Lillie (1894-1989)
comedienne. Source:
Beatrice Lillie: the funniest woman in the world.
New York: Wynwood Press , 1989 p 229. SEE ALSO
100 Canadian heroines; famous and forgotten faces
by Merna Forester Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2004
pg 137. |
It is good to live in these first days when the
foundations of things are being laid, to be able,
now and then, to place a stone or carry the mortar
to set it good and true.
Emily Murphy (1868-1933) - feminist,
social activist and member of the "Famous Five".
Source: the Famous 5: their legacy by the Heritage
community Foundation
as located December 2004. |
Substantial foods is like hugs, but fancies might
come under the 'ead kisses.
Mazo de L Roche, (1897-1961)
author. Source:
Explorers of the Dawn (1922) |
...good food means good materials, lovingly prepared
by someone who cares for the people who will eat it.
Mme Jehane Benoit
(1904-1987) famous chef and author.
Source The Canadian Cookbook.
|
What need has a man of brains when he goes into
politics? Brainy men make the trouble
Nellie McClung, (1873-1951) -
politician, author and feminist.
Source: Sewing seeds in Danny (1911)
|
We may as well admit that here is discontent among
women. We cannot drive them back to the spinning
wheel and the mathook, for they will not go. But
there is really no cause for alarm, for discontent
is not necessarily wicked. There is such a thing as
divine discontent just as there is criminal
contentment.
Nellie McClung, (1873-1951) -
politician, author, and feminist. In Times Like
These published 1915 |
The woman who really loves her own children...is the
woman that wants to see other peoples' children get
their chance too.
Nellie McClung, (1873-1951) -
politician, author, and feminist. - Firing the
Heather |
Why is it...that when people have no capacity for
private usefulness they should be so anxious to
serve the public?
Sara Jeannette Duncan (1861-1922) -
author. Source: The
Imperialist ( 1904) |
There is no resignation in Nature, no quiet folding
of the hands, no hypocritical saying, 'Thy will be
done!" and giving in without a struggle. Resignation
is a cheap and indolent human virtue, which has
served as an excuse for much spiritual slothfulness.
It is highly revered and commended. It is so much
easier to sit down and be resigned than to rise up
and be indignant.
Nellie McClung, (1873-1951) -
politician, author, and feminist. |
Personally I have never seen much point in lists of
10, but they have always been popular. I believe the
first to come out with one was GOD!
Barbara Amiel (1940- ) author and
journalist. Source: The First
Original Unexpurgated Authentic Canadian Book of
Lists. (Toronto, Pagurian Press, 1978. ) |
The way to get things out of a government is to back
them to the wall, and your hands to their throats
and you will get all they have.
Agnes MacPhail, (1890-1954) 1st
woman elected to the Canadian Parliament.
Source: Speech to Southern
Progressive Association, Regina, SK, 1927.
|
I have moved to music, wrapped myself in song as
with a silver cloak , how bright, how splendid!
Audrey Alexandra Brown,
(1904-1998) - poet & author.
Source: The Singer Grows Old. 1943 |
So
how does a business survive in constantly changing
environments?
When change hits, a common response is denial or
trying to adapt with a business model that no longer
works. We can influence the outcome in changing
environments more rapidly by first recognizing that
we actually need to survive and then moving to
survive with new ideas.
Roberta Bondar (1945- ) - 1st
Canadian woman in space, photographer,
environmentalist, author.
Source: Roberta Bondar Website
(Accessed March 2007) |
The people do not exist for the sake of art, to give
the painter fame or the picture a market. On the
contrary, art exists for the sake of the people, to
refresh the weary, to console the sad, to increase
man's joy of living and his sympathies with all the
world.
Madge Young Clement,
singer and 1st president of The Brandon Art Club.
Source Heroines .ca (accessed
March 2007) |
It wouldn't be half so
interesting if we knew all about everything would
it?
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874 -1942)
Internationally respected author of Anne of Green
Gables.
Source: Anne of
Green Gables. |
Language is a part of your blood, it makes you
who you are. It cannot die.
Dora Wasserman
(1919-2003) founder of The Yiddish
Theatre, Montreal. Source:
Peritz, Ingrid. Guardian of Yiddish Culture dies.
Globe and Mail. December 17, 2003 |
A child that has a quick temper, just blaze up and
cool down, ain't likely to be sly or deceitful.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) - internationally
known author of Anne of Green Gables.
|
Try and be a good neighbour, and always have an ear
of the youth , because sometimes they need it
Rose Gariepy Fleury (1926- )
renowned Métis genealogist.
Source: Herstory 2012 |
Home, I have come to understand, does not only have
to be “where the heart is”. It can be anywhere that
you decide to live, and live well. You make a place
your home when it becomes a point of purpose , of
decision, and of life. You make home, wherever that
may be, and it travels with you. Home. In my
experience is a verb.
Megan Cécile Radford freelance
journalist |
Fame is a very superficial pedestal
k. d. Lang
(1961- ) - country music artist.
Source: Speaking of Success by Pamela Wallin
(Key Porter Books, 2001) |
Volunteers care, and because they care, they are
determined to shape the world in which they are
living. They are willing to lend a helping hand to
their neighbours when there is a need; and in taking
action they encourage others to join forces for
change.
Sharon Capeling-Alakija
Correspondence with SWCC November 1998
Source: Herstory 2000 (Coteau Books 1999) page 38.
|
I don’t ever feel like we’re there. I know it’s
going to work, but it’s not just one destination.
It’s a continuous journey. I’ve never stopped and
thought “Wow we’re there.” There’s always more to
do.
Hana
Zalzal (1964- ) - Cargo Cosmetics founder and C E O.
|
Every set of ears hears a different story when they
listen to the same story
Louise Profelt-LeBlanc founder of
Yukon Story Telling Festival.
Source: Herstory 2010 |
I believe in truth. It is the beginning of every
thought. I take the quest for truth to mean to
continue to educate ourselves, all your lives to be
open to experience, to test things with an open mind
and a keen expression, to have the courage to care
deeply about such matters as social justice,…life is
an adventure. The adventure has to do with love but
also mostly with the search for truth. When you have
truth you have meaning. When you have meaning you
have it all.
Rev. Lois Miriam Wilson (1927 - ) Moderator
of the United Church of Canada.
- Source:
Lois M. Wilson I want to be in that number: cool
saints I have known. (self published, 2014) page
110. |
Well, Thank God, I soon learned to be just as happy
when folks said “Isn’t she funny” as if they had
ah-ed and oh-ed and exclaimed, “Isn’t she
beautiful”.
Marie Dressler (1868-1934) - academy
award winning actor. Source:
My own story by Marie Dressler, (Boston: Little
Brown, 1934) |
This is why societies that are oppressive to women
and contemptuous of their work are so backward
economically. Half their populations, doing
economically important kinds of work, such as
cooking and food processing, cleaning and
laundering, making garments and concocting home
remedies are excluded from taking initiatives to
develop all that work – and nobody else does either.
No wonder macho societies typically have pitiful,
weak economies.
Jane Jacobs, (1916-2006) journalist
and activist from her book: The Nature of Economies.
Source: Sally Armstrong,
Assent of women: A New Age is Dawning For Every
Mother’s Daughter. (Vintage Canada, 2013) page 9 |
Ballet on the Prairies was only something in the
memory of many Canadians who had come from Europe at
the beginning of the Century, a lingering dream of
colour and movement almost lost in the years of
achievement and hardship in a new country
Gweneth
Lloyd Co-founder of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
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Return to
categories |
How can we best
describe this woman's mission in a word? Can we not
best describe it as 'mothering' in one sense or
another? We are [all] not called to be the mothers
of little children but every woman's called to
'mother' in some way or another.
Ishbel
Hamilton-Gordon, Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair,
Lady Aberdean (1857-1939) 1st women's movement
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The beaver,
which has come to represent Canada as the eagle does
the United States and the lion Britain, is a
flat-tailed, slow-witted, toothy rodent know to bite
off it's own testicles or to stand under its own
falling tree
June Callwood (1939-1999( acclaimed journalist and
social activist |
|
My private
measure of success is daily. If this were to be the
last day of my life would I be content with it? To
live in harmonious balance of commitments and
pleasures is what I strive for.
Jane Rule (1931-2007) L B T Q 2S author |
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If you are
a parent or teacher, don't strive to fashion your
children into one stereotyped pattern. A child's
individuality is the divine spark. Let it burn.
Agnes
Deans Cameron (1863-1912) teacher and journalist |
|
Artists,
the real ones, the committed ones, have always
sought sometimes in ways prophetic and beyond their
oen times, to clarify and proclaim and enhance life,
not to obscure and demean and destroy it. Even the
so-called literature of despair is not really that at
all. Despair is total silence, total withdrawal.
Art, by its very nature of necessity expression, is
an act of faith, and acknowledgement of the profound
mystery at the core of life.
Margaret Lawrence
(1926-1987) acclaimed writer |
|
If you
have anything to tell me of importance, for God's
sake begin at the end.
Sara
Jeannette Duncan (1861-1922), author and
journalist |
|
To speak a
second language is a lesson in humility, and there
is no reason why that lesson should be confined to
French Canadians.
Gwethalyn Graham
(1913-1965) , author |
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Oh, Am I a
feminist? I usually say that I was an accidental
feminist. Really, I was just being me.
Margaret Trudeau (1948- )
wife of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and
author |
|
When Grief is deepest,
words are fewest.
Ann Voscamp (1973-
) author |
|
Movement is the
essence of being. When a thing stands still and
says, 'Finished', then it dies. There isn't such a
thing as completion in this world, for that would
mean stop!
Emily Carr (1871-1945acclaimed
artist and author.
Source: Hundreds and Thousands: The Journals of
Emily Carr, 1966) |
|
My Music is for
everybody and my message is for everybody...I don't
want to leave anybody out
Landa
Larmond (1975- ) gospel musician and
worship leader |
|
I think
storytelling is a fundamental element of any culture
and society, an element that has to be part of
Culture and society in order to make it whole. 2003
Tantoo Cardinal (1950- ) actor of Cree
and Métis heritage(#468)
Source: Hertstory 2004) |
|
Injustice of any
kind enraged and revolted me, whether by
institutions against individuals or powerful groups
against the powerless. 1987
Monique Begin
(1936- ) academic and politician
Source: Herstory 2004. |
|
I cannot define
beauty as something perfect. One finds it in the
most unexpected places, and I do not believe that it
can have anything in common with prettiness or some
such thing...There are all sorts of things which are
beautiful and strange; sometimes they are painful,
yet beautiful.
1988
Betty
Goodwin (1923-2008) multidisciplinary artist
Source: Herstory 2004 |
|
Science is
never-ending. Once you discover something, there are
always more questions to be asked. It is this
never-ending excitement and mystery that drives me.
2002
Eva
Vertes Source: Herstory 2004 |
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