As Tommy said…

“I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first-class surgeon to his bedside. And I think it was out of this experience, not at the moment consciously, but through the years, I came to believe that health services ought not to have a price tag on them, and that people should be able to get whatever health services they require irrespective of their individual capacity to pay.”
T. C. Douglas, The Making of a Socialist, p. 7.

“Improving people’s economic condition is not an end in itself, it’s a means to an end…. I never thought a man could save his soul if his belly was empty or that he could think about things like beauty and goodness if he had a toothache.”
Tommy Douglas in conversation, 1982, from Dave Margoshes, Tommy Douglas: Building the New Society, Preface.

“We should never, never be afraid or ashamed about dreams. The dreams won’t all come true; we won’t always make it; but where there is no vision a people perish. Where people have no dreams and no hopes and aspirations, life becomes dull and a meaningless wilderness.”
From A. W. Johnson, Dream No Little Dreams, Introduction.

“About two weeks ago I was very tired and a bit low. We got word that the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) had been granted a 17% freight rate increase by the Transport Commission, in spite of appeals to the cabinet, … I had the battle of my life with CPR lawyers and officials, and suddenly I felt ten years younger. I’ve been going on the momentum of that fight with the CPR ever since. I don’t know whether it increases the adrenaline in my system, but a fight always makes me feel better.”
T. C. Douglas, The Making of a Socialist, p. 60.

“The religion of tomorrow will be less concerned with the dogmas of theology and more concerned with the social welfare of humanity.”
Research review, 1934

“It has been said that a country’s greatness can be measured by what it does for its unfortunates. By that criterion Canada certainly does not stand in the forefront of the nations of the world although there are signs that we are becoming conscious of our deficiencies and are determined to atone for lost time.”
Comment at the Dominion-Provincial Conference, 1946

“I do not think the dead hand of the past should be allowed to stay the onward march of progress. Human rights are sacred but constitutions are not.”
Quoted in the Globe and Mail, 1966

“A recession is when your neighbour has to tighten his belt. A depression is when you have to tighten your own belt. And a panic is when you have no belt to tighten and your pants fall down.”
Biographical essay, 1971

“In the 1960s my job was to ensure that Canadians did not fall asleep on their full stomachs.”
Time magazine, May 3, 1971

“Saskatchewan was told that it would never get hospital insurance. Yet Saskatchewan people were the first in Canada to establish this kind of insurance, and were followed by the rest of Canada. We didn’t have Medicare in those days. They said you couldn’t have Medicare – it would interfere with the ‘doctor-patient relationship’. But you people in this province demonstrated to Canada that it was possible to have Medicare. Now every province in Canada either has it or is in the process of setting it up.”

“Sure things have changed. Hair has gone down and skirts have gone up. But don’t let this fool you. Behind the beards and the miniskirts, the long hair, this generation of young people, take it from me, is one of the finest generations of young people that have ever grown up in this country. Sure they’re in rebellion against a lot of our standards and values and well they might be. They have got sick and tired of a manipulated society. They understand that a nation’s greatness lies not in the quantities of its goods but in the quality of its life.”
Speech in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, November 27, 1970
From Doris French Shackleton, Tommy Douglas, p. 309-10.

We’re sorry that we’ve given you so much hot weather, this you can expect here. This is the country of drought and heat. They tell, you know, of the politician, one of those kind of politicians that would rather be wrong than be quiet, who was making a speech in which he said, “Why this is a fine province! There’s nothing wrong with this province! All this province needs is lots of water and lots of good people . . .”

Some fella at the back said, “That’s all Hell needs!”

From Tommy Douglas: A Tribute, CD-ROM, Montreal: So-Ya Productions, tr. 4.