Margaret Thatcher Quotes

“Remember, George, this is no time to go wobbly.”

“I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.”

“Being democratic is not enough, a majority cannot turn what is wrong into right. In order to be considered truly free, countries must also have a deep love of liberty and an abiding respect for the rule of law.”

“Of course it's the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.”

“In order to unscramble some eggs the leader gotta have some balls”

“It's okay, Chancellor, you can touch them. Sometimes I just strip down to a tank top and stare at these guns in front of a mirror all day long.”

“During my lifetime most of the problems the world has faced have come, in one fashion or another, from mainland Europe and the solution from outside it.”

“Tyranny must not prevail.”

“I am not one who, to quote an American author, believes that democracy and enterprise have finally won the battle of ideas - that we have therefore arrived at the end of history, and there is nothing left to fight for. That would be unutterably complacent, indeed foolish. There will always be threats to freedom, not only from frontal assaults, but more insidiously by erosion from within.”

“The larger the slice taken by government, the smaller the cake available for everyone.”

“To me consensus seems to be - the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no-one believes, but to which no-one objects - the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner "I stand for consensus"?”

“Peace is hard work and we must not allow people to forget it.”

“One of my favourite quotations is: 'That which thy father bequeathed thee, earn it anew, if thou wouldst possess it.'”

“There is no such thing as society.”

“A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.”

“If you want to get something said in the politics tell a man. If you want to get something done in the politics tell a woman”

“Being prime minister is a lonely job... you cannot lead from the crowd.”

“Free enterprise has enabled the creative and the acquisitive urges of man to be given expression in a way which benefits all members of society. Let free enterprise fight back now, not for itself, but for all those who believe in freedom.”

“All the general propositions favouring freedom I had .. imbibed at my father's knee or acquired by candle-end reading of Burke and Hayek...”

“Our aim is to make tax collecting a declining industry.”

“I am an undiluted admirer of American values and the American dream and I believe they will continue to inspire not just the people of the United States but millions across the face of the globe.”

“The Russians are bent on world dominance, and they are rapidly acquiring the means to become the most powerful imperial nation the world has seen. The men in the Soviet Politburo do not have to worry about the ebb and flow of public opinion. They put guns before butter, while we put just about everything before guns.”

“Our judgement is that the presence of the Royal Marines garrison is sufficient deterrent against any possible aggression.”

“Well, there's a lot to react against![in response to the accusation that she was a reactionary]”

“To be free is better than to be unfree – always. Any politician who suggests the opposite should be treated as suspect.”