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I will not cease from mental fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In England’s green and pleasant land.

– William Blake

“Improving people’s economic conditions 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

“I am conscious of the fact that it is not customary for ministers to take an active part in the affairs of the nation; but I also remember that there was One who went about doing good so that the common people heard Him gladly. And I would not be worthy of His name if I did not take up the sword on behalf of the underpaid and underprivileged. I therefore dedicate myself this evening to the service of this constituency….”

– Tommy Douglas in his first nomination speech, November 4, 1933

National Archives of Canada/PA172625

Tommy Douglas (at right) dressed as King Arthur, along with (from left) Conservative Leader Robert Stanfield, Stanley Knowles (as Merlin) and Audrey Schreyer (as Queen Guinevere) in a 1971 Parliamentary Christmas skit, “Chamelot,” authored by Stanfield. Tommy was once urged to take up an acting career, “but I never really liked the idea of being an echo of someone else’s lines. I wanted to make up my own lines in life.”