What we should grasp, however, from the lessons of European history is that, first, there is nothing necessarily benevolent about programmes of European integration; second, the desire to achieve grand utopian plans often poses a grave threat to freedom; and third, European unity has been tried before, and the outcome was far from happy.
Margaret ThatcherWhen 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.
Margaret ThatcherOur children need strong families raising them with sturdy virtues, not to be smothered in the cold arms of the state.
Margaret ThatcherWhy do you climb philosophical hills? Because they are worth climbing . . . There are no hills to go down unless you start from the top.
Margaret ThatcherIf 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.
Margaret Thatcher