Margaret Thatcher Quotes

I will not stagger from expedient to expedient.

I am always on the job.

Whether it is in the United States or in mainland Europe, written constitutions have one great weakness. That is that they contain the potential to have judges take decisions which should properly be made by democratically elected politicians.

I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime.

I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job.

If the Europeans truly wish to improve their NATO contribution they can show it simply enough. They can establish professional armed forces, like those of the UK. And they can acquire more advanced technology. Indeed, unless that happens soon the gulf between the European and US capabilities will yawn so wide that it will not be possible to share the same battlefield. Alas, I do not think that sharing battlefields with our American friends - but rather disputing global primacy with them - is what European defence plans are truly about.

I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work.

What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner 'I stand for consensus'?

The acid test of politics is not what you say at the hustings, but what you actually do in government.

From my experience let me say this: in today's world it is no bad thing for a politician to have had the benefit of a scientific background. And not only politicians. Those who work in industry, in commerce, in investment. Indeed, so important has it become that I believe we are right to make science a compulsory subject for all schoolchildren.

They [Federalist European Politicians] divide their time between court room, prison and debating chamber - giving a whole new meaning to the term 'conviction politician'.

That is what capitalism is: a system that brings wealth to the many, not just the few.

One only gets to the top rung on the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly, all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you - suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, 'Well, I'll have a go, too.'

When you hold back the successful, you penalize those who need help.

I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.

Let us never forget this fundamental truth: The State has no source of money other than the money people themselves earn.

(A unified) 'Europe' is the result of plans. It is, in fact, a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damage done is in doubt.

Life's greatest reward is life itself

Please don't use the word tough. People might get the impression that I don't care. And I do care, very deeply. Resilient, I think.

It is always important in matters of high politics to know what you do not know. Those who think they know, but are mistaken, and act upon their mistakes, are the most dangerous people to have in charge.

I don't mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say.

...Conservatives have excellent credentials to speak about human rights. By our efforts, and with precious little help from self-styled liberals, we were largely responsible for securing liberty for a substantial share of the world's population and defending it for most of the rest.

I am not immortal, but I've got a lot left in me yet.

When all the objectives of government include the achievement of equality - other than equality before the law - that government poses a threat to liberty.

Failure? The possibilities do not exist.

I believe in the acceptance of personal responsibility, freedom of choice, and the British Empire, which took freedom and the rule of law to countries which would never have known it otherwise.

[On being asked how many Mrs. Thatchers there were:] Oh, three at least. There is the intellectual one, the intuitive one and the one at home.

Gentlemen, if we don't cut spending we will be bankrupt. Yes, the medicine is harsh, but the patient requires it in order to live. Should we withhold the medicine? No. We are not wrong. We did not seek election and win in order to manage the decline of a great nation.

The United States is contributing massively to the defence of Europe and we should be very grateful.

I too have a certain idea of America. Moreover, I would not feel entitled to say that of any other country, except my own. This is not just sentiment, though I always feel ten years younger – despite the jet-lag – when I set foot on American soil: there is something so positive, generous, and open about the people – and everything actually works. I also feel, though, that I have in a sense a share of America.

I went to Oxford University - but I've never let that hold me back.

I will not change just to court popularity.

(Not) even the US can impose peace: it has to be genuinely accepted by both parties involved.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

A quick cure is a quack cure.

We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime, it is not political

If one generation is expected to carry an excessive burden on behalf of another, it will seek by every means to avoid it. It will either demand that past promises are broken, or it will not work, or it will not pay taxes, or the most talented people will leave. Socialist governments which have tried to tax 'till the pips squeak' have ample experience of that.

Gentlemen, I have spent the night thinking about this Peruvian (peace) initiative and I have to tell you that if it is your decision to accept then you will have to find another Prime Minister.

Many of our troubles are due to the fact that our people turn to politicians for everything.

Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas.

We speak of peace, yes, but whose peace? Poland's? Bulgaria's? The peace of the grave?

Socialists have always spent much of their time seeking new titles for their beliefs, because the old versions so quickly become outdated and discredited.

We are very fortunate to have someone else's weapons stationed on our soil, to fight those targeted on us.

Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose.

You turn if you want to. The Lady's not for turning.

First you win the argument, then you win the vote.

One of the things being in politics has taught me is that men are not a reasoned or reasonable sex.

If I were a German today, I would be proud, proud but also worried. I would be proud of the magnificent achievement of rebuilding my country, entrenching democracy and assuming the undoubtedly preponderant position in Europe. But a united Germany can't and won't subordinate its national interests in economic or in foreign policy to those of the Community indefinitely. Germany's new pre-eminence is a fact - and its power is a problem - as much for Germans as for the rest of Europe.

We need to create a mood where it is everywhere thought morally right for as many people as possible to acquire capital.

Business success isn't just a selfish aim. Profits spread beyond those who make them and bring jobs and prosperity.

It is one of the great weaknesses of reasonable men and women that they imagine that projects which fly in the face of commonsense are not serious or being seriously undertaken.

To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.

There is nothing inevitable about rising unemployment.

Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money.

The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of everyone else's money.

When you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment, it's exciting to have a real crisis on your hands.

Just rejoice at the news and congratulate our armed forces and the Marines. Rejoice!

History has taught us that freedom cannot long survive unless it is based on moral foundations. You can get the economics right, but in addition liberty must be cultivated as a moral quality.

The first step in calculating which way to go is to find out where you are.

Why do you climb philosophical hills? Because they are worth climbing . . . There are no hills to go down unless you start from the top.