When you take into public ownership a profitable industry the profits soon disappear. The goose that laid the golden eggs goes broody. State geese are not great layers.

We simply cannot delegate the exercise of mercy and generosity to others.

[On Ronald Reagan:] Poor dear, there's nothing between his ears.

When will Labour learn that you cannot build Jerusalem in Brussels.

I cannot imagine how any diplomat, or any dramatist, could improve on (Ronald Reagan's) words to Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva summit: 'Let me tell you why it is we distrust you.' Those words are candid and tough and they cannot have been easy to hear. But they are also a clear invitation to a new beginning and a new relationship that would be rooted in trust.

[When asked how it felt to be a female prime minister:] I don't know: I've never experienced the alternative.

We should see to it that our people are steeped in a real knowledge and understanding of our national culture.