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Margaret Thatcher Quotes
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Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was a British stateswoman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century and the first woman to have been appointed. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.

A research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his Conservative government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition and became the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election.

On moving into 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives intended to reverse high unemployment and Britain's struggles in the wake of the Winter of Discontent and an ongoing recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation , flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and increasing unemployment, until victory in the 1982 Falklands War and the recovering economy brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her decisive re-election in 1983. She survived an assassination attempt in 1984.

Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987. During this period her support for a Community Charge was widely unpopular, and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. In 2013 she died of a stroke in London at the age of 87. Always a controversial figure, she has nonetheless been lauded as one of the greatest, most influential and widest-known politicians in British history, even as arguments over Thatcherism persist.

✵ 13. October 1925 – 8. April 2013   •   Other names Margaret Thatcherová, Margaret Hilda Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher photo
Margaret Thatcher: 348   quotes 74   likes

Margaret Thatcher Quotes

“For us, it is not who you are, who your family is or where you come from that matters. It is what you are and what you can do for our country that counts.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Conservative Party Conference (12 October 1984) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105763
Second term as Prime Minister
Context: In the Conservative Party, we have no truck with outmoded Marxist doctrine about class warfare. For us, it is not who you are, who your family is or where you come from that matters. It is what you are and what you can do for our country that counts. That is our vision.

Family , Country

“Failure? Do you remember what Queen Victoria once said? “Failure—the possibilities do not exist”.”

Margaret Thatcher

TV Interview for ITN (5 April 1982) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104913 regarding the Falkland Islands
First term as Prime Minister
Context: I am not talking about failure, I am talking about my supreme confidence in the British fleet... superlative ships, excellent equipment, the most highly trained professional group of men, the most honourable and brave members of Her Majesty's Service. Failure? Do you remember what Queen Victoria once said? “Failure—the possibilities do not exist”. That is the way we must look at it, with all our professionalism, all our flair and every single bit of native cunning, every single bit of professionalism and all our equipment and we must go out calmly, quietly, to succeed.

Failure

“Which is the one most likely to get results? The one who says, come on you can do it. That's me.”

Margaret Thatcher

Radio Interview for IRN (28 November 1980) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104452
First term as Prime Minister
Context: It's like a nurse looking after an ill patient. Which is the better nurse? The one who smothers the patient with sympathy and says ‘never mind, dear, there there, you just lie back and I'll bring you all your meals. I'll bring you all your papers. Just lie back, I'll look after you’? Or the nurse who says ‘Now, come on. Shake out of it. I know you've had an operation yesterday. It's time you put your feet to the ground and took a few steps. That's right, dear, that's right. Now get back and take a few more tomorrow’... Which is the one most likely to get results? The one who says, come on you can do it. That's me.

“Look 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 Thatcher

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

Margaret Thatcher

This quote is widely attributed to Margaret Thatcher on various websites, and also appears in a number of books, including The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Columbia University Press (1989), ed. Robert Andrews, p. 320 : ISBN 0231069901. 9780231069908 , but without any further source information such as date, location or any other context.
One valid Thatcher quote which may be the basis for the version above appears in the Second Carlton Lecture http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105799 (‘Why Democracy Will Last’), delivered at the Carlton Club, London (November 26, 1984) : Mr. Chairman, each generation has to stand up for democracy. It can’t take anything for granted and may have to fight fundamental battles anew. You know that marvellous quotation from Goethe : ‘That which thy fathers bequeathed thee / Earn it anew if thou would possess it.’
Thatcher also expressed this thought in a Speech to Atlantic Bridge (May 14, 2003) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111266, delivered at the St. Regis Hotel, New York City : My friends, every generation has to fight anew the battle for liberty.
Disputed

Success , Motivational , Deep , Leadership

“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”

Margaret Thatcher

Variant: I am extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.” - Margaret Thatcher

Way

“You know, if you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything, wouldn't you, at any time? And you would achieve nothing!”

Margaret Thatcher

Interview for Press Association (3 May 1989) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107427
Third term as Prime Minister

Time

“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”

Margaret Thatcher

From an interview for Italian television (RAI) (10 March 1986) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106223
Second term as Prime Minister
Context: In my work, you get used to criticisms. Of course you do, because there are a lot of people trying to get you down, but I always cheer up immensely if one is particularly wounding because I think well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. That is why my father always taught me: never worry about anyone who attacks you personally; it means their arguments carry no weight and they know it.

Thinking , Personality

“When I'm out of politics I'm going to run a business, it'll be called 'rent-a-spine.”

Margaret Thatcher

Quoted from an interview for the television programme "The Thatcher Years - Part 2" on BBC1 The Thatcher Years 2 of 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEYPKLyug5c (13 october 1993)
Post-Prime Ministerial

Business

“I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but it will get you pretty near.”

Margaret Thatcher

“Being democratic is not enough, a majority cannot turn what is wrong into right. In order to be considered truly free, countries must also have a deep love of liberty and an abiding respect for the rule of law.”

Margaret Thatcher
Love , Law , Country

“No-one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions; he had money as well.”

Margaret Thatcher

TV Interview for London Weekend Television Weekend World (6 January 1980) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=104210
First term as Prime Minister

Money

“Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.”

Margaret Thatcher
Christmas , Family , Christmas

“To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. [laughter] The lady's not for turning.”

Margaret Thatcher

Reacting to doubt over her economic policies http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/10/newsid_2541000/2541071.stm at a Conservative Party Conference (10 October 1980)
A play on The Lady's Not for Burning, a 1948 play by Christopher Fry about a witchcraft trial.
First term as Prime Minister

Laughter , Waiting

“On my way here I passed a local cinema and it turns out you were expecting me after all, for the billboards read: The Mummy Returns.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Conservative Election Rally in Plymouth (22 May, 2001) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=108389
Post-Prime Ministerial

Way , Reading

“Do you know, one of the greatest problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas? Now, thoughts and ideas, that interests me.”

Margaret Thatcher

Variant: Do 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.
Source: Margaret Thatcher

People , Age , Feeling , Idea

“The violence and intimidation we have seen should never have happened. It is the work of extremists. It is the enemy within.”

Margaret Thatcher

TV Interview for BBC2 Newsnight (27 July 1984) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105565
Second term as Prime Minister

“Our policy is not built on envy or hatred, but on liberty for the individual man or woman.”

Margaret Thatcher

The Path To Power (1995)

Envy

“We have to recover those islands, we have to recover them for the people on them are British and British stock and they still owe allegiance to the Crown and want to be British. We have to do what is necessary to recover those islands…When you stop a dictator there are always risks but there are great risks in not stopping a dictator. My generation learned that a long time ago.”

Margaret Thatcher

TV Interview for ITN (5 April 1982) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104913 regarding the Falkland Islands
First term as Prime Minister

People , Learning , Time

“I have always gone about this business on the basis that one cannot have a partnership unless there is equity among partners. Equity, of course, is historically a British concept, but I think that it is one that we bring to the [European] Community.”

Margaret Thatcher

Prime Minister's Questions (3 December 1979) https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1979/dec/03/european-council-dublin-meeting
First term as Prime Minister

Communication , Business , Thinking , Partnership

“The habit of ubiquitous interventionism, combining pinprick strikes by precision weapons with pious invocations of high principle, would lead us into endless difficulties. Interventions must be limited in number and overwhelming in their impact.”

Margaret Thatcher book Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World

Source: Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, p. 37

“Oh, but you know, you do not achieve anything without trouble, ever.”

Margaret Thatcher

TV Interview for ITV (30 November 1984) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105803
Second term as Prime Minister

“I started life with two great advantages: no money, and good parents.”

Margaret Thatcher

On a 1971 TV interview, when asked if she understands ordinary people's problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tanJYrIh7VU&feature=youtu.be&t=47s
Education Secretary

Life , Money , Parent

“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”

Margaret Thatcher

BBC (1979); reported in John Blundell, Margaret Thatcher: A Portrait of the Iron Lady (2008), page 193.
First term as Prime Minister

For women , Powerful , Home , Understanding

“I sometimes think the Labour Party is like a pub where the mild is running out. If someone doesn't do something soon, all that's left will be bitter. (Laughter). And all that's bitter will be Left.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to the Conservative Party Conference (10 October 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102777
Leader of the Opposition

Thinking , Laughter

“You cannot build a great nation or brotherhood of man by spreading envy or hatred.”

Margaret Thatcher

The Path To Power (1995)

Envy

“Human rights did not begin with the French Revolution… [they] really stem from a mixture of Judaism and Christianity… [we English] had 1688, our quiet revolution, where Parliament exerted its will over the King… it was not the sort of Revolution that France's was…'Liberty, equality, fraternity' – they forgot obligations and duties I think. And then of course the fraternity went missing for a long time.”

Margaret Thatcher

On the French Revolution; quoted in '"Les droits de l'homme n'ont pas commencé en France," nous déclare Mme Thatcher', Le Monde (13 July 1989)
Third term as Prime Minister

Thinking , Time

“Don't you think that's the way to persuade more companies to come to this region and get more jobs—because I want them—for the people who are unemployed. Not always standing there as moaning minnies.”

Margaret Thatcher

Now stop it!
Remarks to Tyne Tees TV (11 September 1985) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106127
Second term as Prime Minister

People , Way , Thinking

“The United States has no socialist party, or no socialist party has been in power. That is the reason why it has always been the country of last resort for every currency.”

Margaret Thatcher

Interview for The Times (31 May 1984) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105505
Second term as Prime Minister

Country

“From France to the Philippines, from Jamaica to Japan, from Malaysia to Mexico, from Sri Lanka to Singapore, privatisation is on the move…The policies we have pioneered are catching on in country after country. We Conservatives believe in popular capitalism—believe in a property-owning democracy. And it works! … The great political reform of the last century was to enable more and more people to have a vote. Now the great Tory reform of this century is to enable more and more people to own property. Popular capitalism is nothing less than a crusade to enfranchise the many in the economic life of the nation. We Conservatives are returning power to the people. That is the way to one nation, one people.”

Margaret Thatcher

Conservative Party Conference (10 October 1986) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=106498
Second term as Prime Minister

Life , People , Way , Democracy

“The right hon. Gentleman is afraid of an election is he? Oh, if I were going to cut and run I'd have gone after the Falklands. Afraid? Frightened? Frit? Couldn't take it? Couldn't stand it? Right now inflation is lower than it has been for thirteen years, a record the right hon. Gentleman couldn't begin to touch!”

Margaret Thatcher

Prime Minister's Questions (19 April 1983) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=105294. The use of 'frit', an unusual Lincolnshire dialect abbreviation of 'frightened' which Mrs Thatcher evidently recalled from childhood, was missed by MPs in a noisy chamber but heard very distinctly on the audio feed from the chamber.
First term as Prime Minister

“Americans and Europeans alike sometimes forget how unique is the United States of America. No other nation has been created so swiftly and successfully. No other nation has been built upon an idea – the idea of liberty. No other nation has so successfully combined people of different races and nations within a single culture. Both the founding fathers of the United States and successive waves of immigrants to your country were determined to create a new identity. Whether in flight from persecution or from poverty, the huddled masses have, with few exceptions, welcomed American values, the American way of life and American opportunities. And America herself has bound them to her with powerful bonds of patriotism and pride. The European nations are not and can never be like this. They are the product of history and not of philosophy. You can construct a nation on an idea; but you cannot reconstruct a nation on the basis of one.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech at Hoover Institution Lunch (8 March 1991) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108264
This quote appears to be the basis for the following condensed version, seen on numerous internet sites : Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.
Post-Prime Ministerial

Life , People , Way , History

“Our religion teaches us that every human being is unique and must play his part in working out his own salvation. So whereas socialists begin with society, and how people can be fitted in, we start with Man, whose social and economic relationship are just part of his wider existence. Because we see man as a spiritual being, we utterly reject the Marxist view, which gives pride of place to economics…The religious tradition values economic activity, how we earn our living, create wealth, but warns against obsession with it, warns against putting it above all else. Money is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Greater London Young Conservatives (Iain Macleod Memorial Lecture - "Dimensions of Conservatism") (4 July 1977) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103411
Leader of the Opposition

Money , People , Religion , Parting

“Let me say this, if you want someone weak you don't want me, there are plenty of others to choose from.”

Margaret Thatcher

Radio Interview for BBC Radio 2 Jimmy Young Programme (26 February 1986) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106220
Second term as Prime Minister

“When the ANC says that they will target British companies, this shows what a typical terrorist organisation it is. I fought terrorism all my life and if more people fought it, and we were all more successful, we should not have it and I hope that everyone in this hall will think it is right to go on fighting terrorism. They will if they believe in democracy.”

Margaret Thatcher

Press Conference (17 October 1987) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106948, in answer to Alan Merrydew of BCTV News who asked what her response was "to a reported ANC statement that they will target British firms in South Africa?"
Third term as Prime Minister

Life , People , Hope , Democracy

“There really is no alternative.”

Margaret Thatcher

Press Conference for American correspondents in London (25 June 1980) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/Speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=104389&doctype=1, defending monetarist policy.
First term as Prime Minister

“We may suffer from a British sickness now, but we have a British constitution and it's still sound, and we have British hearts and a British will to win through. I believe in Britain. I believe in the British people. I believe in our future.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to the National Press Club (19 September 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102770
Leader of the Opposition
Context: In every generation there comes a moment to choose, and for too long we've chosen the soft option. And it's brought us pretty low. There are some signs now that our people are prepared to make the tough choice and to follow the harder road. We're still the same people that have fought for freedom, and won, and the spirit of adventure, the inventiveness, the determination are still strands in our character. We may suffer from a British sickness now, but we have a British constitution and it's still sound, and we have British hearts and a British will to win through. I believe in Britain. I believe in the British people. I believe in our future.

People , Suffering , Future , Heart

“We fly the British flag, not these awful things you are putting on tails.”

Margaret Thatcher

Statement to British Airways when they were changing their tail fin logos (9 October 1997) http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1997/Thatcher-takes-aim-at-British-Airways-tail-logos/id-c5a90438a0daf5287b2a3acd7403fc89
Post-Prime Ministerial

Flying

“Clear. Decisive. Purposeful.”

Margaret Thatcher

When asked how she would describe her leadership style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ8ly-Kwn6s&feature=youtu.be&t=5m1s
Post-Prime Ministerial

Decision

“We support the right of women to choose our own lives for ourselves. If women wish to be lawyers, doctors, engineers, scientists, politicians, we should have the same opportunities as men, more and more we do…But many women wish to devote themselves mainly to raising a family and running a home. And we should have that choice too. Very few jobs can compare in long-term importance and satisfaction with that of housewife and mother. For the family is the building block of society. It is a nursery, a school, a hospital, a leisure place, a place of refuge and a place of rest. It encompasses the whole of society. It fashions our beliefs. It is the preparation for the rest of our life. And women run it.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Conservative Women's Conference (25 May 1988) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107248
Third term as Prime Minister

Life , Women , Men , School

“The bomb attack on the Grand Hotel early this morning was first and foremost an inhuman, undiscriminating attempt to massacre innocent unsuspecting men and women staying in Brighton for our Conservative Conference…But the bomb attack clearly signified more than this. It was an attempt not only to disrupt and terminate our Conference; It was an attempt to cripple Her Majesty's democratically-elected Government. That is the scale of the outrage in which we have all shared, and the fact that we are gathered here now—shocked, but composed and determined—is a sign not only that this attack has failed, but that all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Conservative Party Conference (12 October 1984) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105763
Second term as Prime Minister

Women , Men , Democracy

“In this country over the last five years pay has doubled, whereas output has slightly fallen. That is totally different from the position with many of our competitors. Pay in those countries has gone up hand in hand with productivity. Consequently, they have the jobs and we have a larger proportion of the unemployment.”

Margaret Thatcher

Prime Minister's Questions (2 June 1981) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104659
First term as Prime Minister

Country

“Our people will never keep the Red Flag flying here. There is only one banner that Britain flies, the one that has kept flying for centuries—the red, white and blue.”

Margaret Thatcher

Second term as Prime Minister

People , Flying

“We heard moving accounts from two working miners about just what they have to face as they try to make their way to work. The sheer bravery of those men and thousands like them who kept the mining industry alive is beyond praise. “Scabs” their former workmates call them. Scabs? They are lions!”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech to Conservative Party Conference (12 October 1984) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105763
Second term as Prime Minister

Men , Way

“The choice facing the nation is between two totally different ways of life. And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark, divisive clouds of Marxist socialism and bring together men and women from all walks of life who share a belief in freedom.”

Margaret Thatcher

Speech in Perth, Scotland (13 May 1983), quoted in New York Times (14 May 1983) "British Vote Campaign Gets Off to Angry Start"
First term as Prime Minister

Life , Women , Men , Way