Allan Lamport, mayor of Toronto from 1951-1954 was dubbed ‘Metro’s Goldwyn Mayor’. Like Sam Goldwyn, he had a knack for saying things in innovative and memorable ways. Here are some examples:
I get up at five in the morning no matter what time of day it is.
You’ve got to act wisely or otherwisely.
Please don’t congregate in groups.
Let’s remain calm, cool and collective.
Let’s jump off that bridge when we get to it.
It’s like pushing a car uphill with a rope.
It’s so unbelievable it’s beyond belief!
That’s a false lie and you know it.
Keep this up and we’ll have a vicious triangle.
They’ve thrown down the cudgel to us.
If these people don’t quit stabbing me in the back, I’m going to have to take the gloves off.
I just love a fight. I’ve got to be busy.
The secret of successful budgets: I have to have the courage of my addition.
They don’t need that much money for the next physical year.
Thoughts on the opening of a birth control clinic: Children have suffered from it, if they were born.
Did she have a Shakespearean section?
After a speech: When I sat down there was an uproar of applause.
No one should ever visit Toronto for the first time.
Anyone who can remember Toronto in the 1950s wasn’t really there.
Should God spare me, I would like to be buried in St. James Cemetery.
Now, for my final conclusion…
For more chuckles, see Quotations from Chairman Lamport, complied by John Robert Colombo.
