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.

The mission of this government is much more than the promotion of economic progress. It is to renew the spirit and solidarity of the nation.

You cannot make an omelet without breaking some balls

Any leader has to have a certain amount of steel in them, so I am not that put out being called the Iron Lady.

Countries trade with each other - or to be more precise people buy and sell from each other across frontiers - because that is the way to advance their interests. We do not need to beg people to trade with us - as long as we have something that people want, of a quality they expect and at a price they are prepared to pay.

We must not fall into the trap of projecting our own morality onto the Soviet leaders. They do not share our aspirations, they are not constrained by our ethics, they always consider themselves exempt from the rules that bind other states.

It pays to know the enemy - not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.