Our children need strong families raising them with sturdy virtues, not to be smothered in the cold arms of the state.
Margaret ThatcherThe desire to win is born in most of us. The will to win is a matter of training. The manner of winning is a matter of honour.
Margaret ThatcherThere might be new technology, but technological progress itself was nothing new - and over the years it had not destroyed jobs, but created them.
Margaret ThatcherNaturally, it is with some temerity that the pupil speaks before the master, because you know more about the Common Market than anybody.
Margaret ThatcherI don't think any woman in power really has a happy life unless she's got a large number of women friends ... because you sometimes must go and sit down and let down your hair with someone you can trust totally.
Margaret ThatcherI still want to play in it, maybe when I absolutely think I have no chance of playing in it my view might change but I doubt it because it just doesn't interest me.
Margaret ThatcherWe have made too much of one or two people, and we think that they can win or lose elections for us. Don't be depressed if one particular person transgresses. It doesn't lose an election unless the Party loses faith in itself.
Margaret ThatcherForget that I'm a woman. Forget the accusations that I am a Right Winger demanding privilege - I had precious little privilege in my early years.
Margaret ThatcherThe spirit of the South Atlantic was the spirit of Britain at her best. It has been said that we surprised the world, that British patriotism was rediscovered in those spring days. It was never really lost. But it would be no bad thing if the feeling that swept the country then were to continue to inspire us. For if there was any doubt about the determination of the British people it was removed by the men and women who, a few months ago, brought a renewed sense of pride and self-respect to our country.
Margaret ThatcherThe Nuremburg trials were attacked at the time as 'victor's justice'. And this is precisely what they were - and were intended to be.
Margaret ThatcherI am convinced that there is little force left in the Marxist stimulus to revolution. Its impetus is petering out as the practical failures of the doctrine become more obvious...What is left is a technique of subversion and a collection of catch-phrases. The former is still dangerous. Like terrorism, it is a menace that needs to be fought whenever it occurs.
Margaret ThatcherInflation is the parent of unemployment and the unseen robber of those who have saved.
Margaret ThatcherWhat really gets me is this - it's very ironic that those who are most critical of extra tax are those who are most vociferous in demanding extra expenditure. What gets me even more is that having demanded that extra expenditure they are not prepared to face the consequences of their own action and stand by the necessity to get the tax to pay for it. I wish some of them had a bit more guts and courage than they have.
Margaret ThatcherObject to merit and distinction, and you're setting your face against quality, independence, originality, genius against all the richness and variety of life. When you hold back the successful, you penalize those who need help.
Margaret ThatcherWhat 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 ThatcherThe larger the slice taken by government, the smaller the cake available for everyone.
Margaret ThatcherIt'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.
Margaret ThatcherLook at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's a day you've had everything to do and you've done it.
Margaret ThatcherI calculate that I was responsible for proposing the elevation to the Lords of some 214 of its present numbers.
Margaret ThatcherIf you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.
Margaret ThatcherIt can be argued - and rightly - that Taiwan is not just another regional issue: after all, the Chinese regard it as part of China. But Taiwan is also a regional issue for three reasons. First, the overthrow or even the neutering of democracy in Taiwan, which is what Beijing effectively demands, would be a major setback for democracy in the region as a whole. Second, if the Chinese were able to get their way by force in Taiwan, they would undoubtedly be tempted to do the same in other disputes. And third, there is no lack of such disputes to provoke a quarrel.
Margaret ThatcherCommunist regimes were not some unfortunate aberration, some historical deviation from a socialist ideal. They were the ultimate expression, unconstrained by democratic and electoral pressures, of what socialism is all about. ... In short, the state [is] everything and the individual nothing.
Margaret ThatcherWhen others spoke of the fear of war, you spoke of the need for warriors and peace through strength. When others bewailed the failure of big government to provide for the collective good, you spoke of self-reliance, of personal responsibility, of individual pride and integrity. When others preached compromise - when others demanded compromise, you, Ronald Reagan, preached conviction.
Margaret ThatcherNo generation has a free hold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy-with a full repairing lease.
Margaret ThatcherI do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.
Margaret Thatcher[When asked how it felt to be a female prime minister:] I don't know: I've never experienced the alternative.
Margaret ThatcherI might have preferred iron - but bronze will do. It won't rust. This time I hope, the head will stay on.
Margaret ThatcherJust rejoice at the news and congratulate our armed forces and the Marines. Rejoice!
Margaret ThatcherReagan did not suffer from the dismal plague of doubts which has assailed so many politicians in our times and which has rendered them incapable of clear decisions.
Margaret ThatcherDo you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas.
Margaret ThatcherWe should not expect the state to appear in the guise of an extravagant good fairy at every christening, a loquacious companion at every stage of life's journey, and the unknown mourner at every funeral.
Margaret ThatcherI 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.
Margaret Thatcher