I do wish I had brought my cheque book. I don't believe in credit cards.

Personal virtue is no substitute for political hard-headedness.

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

A world without nuclear weapons may be a dream but you cannot base a sure defence on dreams. Without far greater trust and confidence between East and West than exists at present, a world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.

In those days one advantage of being a woman was that there was a basic courtesy towards us on which we could draw - something which today's feminists have largely dissipated.

The first step in calculating which way to go is to find out where you are.

We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty.