Margaret Thatcher Quotes

“Forget that I'm a woman. Forget the accusations that I am a Right Winger demanding privilege - I had precious little privilege in my early years.”

“I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society - from a give-it-to-me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.”

“Making change tolerable is one of the duties of Government.”

“Those who imagine that a politician would make a better figurehead than a hereditary monarch might perhaps make the acquaintance of more politicians.”

“There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.”

“There is no such thing as society, there is a living tapestry of men and women and the beauty of that tapestry, and the quality of our lives, will depend upon how much each of us is prepared to take responsibility for ourselves and to turn round and help, by our own efforts, those who are unfortunate. There's no such thing as entitlement unless someone has first met an obligation”

“There might be new technology, but technological progress itself was nothing new - and over the years it had not destroyed jobs, but created them.”

“This lady is not for turning.”

“I can cope with nine of them, so they ought to be able to stand one of me. They could end the tiresomeness and stubbornness by giving me what I want.”

“I just owe almost everything to my father and it's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election.”

“You will only succeed if you know that what you are doing is right and you know how to bring out the best in people.”

“We had to do what we had to do - Britain is great again.”

“For every idealistic peacemaker willing to renounce his self-defence in favour of a weapons-free world, there is at least one warmaker anxious to exploit the other's good intentions.”

“Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.”

“I do believe that political arrangements which are based upon violence, intimidation and theft will eventually break down - and will deserve to do so.”

“Had I faltered we would have neither the success nor the international reputation we have. Yet when a woman is strong she is strident. If a man is strong, he's a good guy.”

“I call the Conservative Party now to a crusade. Not only the Conservative Party. I appeal to all those men and women of goodwill who do not want a Marxist future for themselves or their children or their children's children. This is not just a fight about national solvency. It is a fight about the very foundations of the social order. It is a crusade not merely to put a temporary brake on Socialism, but to stop its onward march once and for all.”

“Obsolete weapons do not deter.”

“I am not hard - I'm frightfully soft. But I will not be hounded”

“If you set out to be liked, you will accomplish nothing.”

“A man may climb Everest for himself, but at the summit he plants his country's flag.”

“I believe we should continue to have a partnership of national states each retaining the right to protect its vital interests, but developing more effectively than at present the habit of working together.”

“Socialists don't like ordinary people choosing, for they might not choose Socialism.”

“I'll stay until I'm tired of it. So long as Britain needs me, I shall never be tired of it.”

“If it's me against 48, I feel sorry for the 48.”