“I would say, let our children grow tall and some taller than others if they have the ability in them to do so.”

Speech to the Institute of SocioEconomic Studies (15 September 1975) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/102769
Leader of the Opposition
Context: What are the lessons then that we've learned from the last thirty years? First, that the pursuit of equality itself is a mirage. What's more desirable and more practicable than the pursuit of equality is the pursuit of equality of opportunity. And opportunity means nothing unless it includes the right to be unequal and the freedom to be different. One of the reasons that we value individuals is not because they're all the same, but because they're all different. I believe you have a saying in the Middle West: ‘Don't cut down the tall poppies. Let them rather grow tall.’ I would say, let our children grow tall and some taller than others if they have the ability in them to do so. Because we must build a society in which each citizen can develop his full potential, both for his own benefit and for the community as a whole, a society in which originality, skill, energy and thrift are rewarded, in which we encourage rather than restrict the variety and richness of human nature.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I would say, let our children grow tall and some taller than others if they have the ability in them to do so." by Margaret Thatcher?
Margaret Thatcher photo
Margaret Thatcher 348
British stateswoman and politician 1925–2013

Related quotes

Louise Burfitt-Dons photo
Harry Hopkins photo
Andrew Solomon photo

“Some mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.”

Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter

Cut It Out (2004)
Source: Wall and Piece

Johann Gottlieb Fichte photo
Steve Jobs photo

“We're gambling on our vision, and we would rather do that than make "me too" products. Let some other companies do that. For us, it's always the next dream.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

Interview about the release of the Macintosh (24 January 1984) - (online video) http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/sj84.mov
1980s

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis photo

“Now, I think that I should have known that he was magic all along. I did know it — but I should have guessed that it would be too much to ask to grow old with and see our children grow up together. So now, he is a legend when he would have preferred to be a man.”

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994) public figure, First Lady to 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy

Quoted from article written by Jacqueline Kennedy for Look Magazine (17 November 1964) JFK memorial issue.

Abraham Lincoln photo

“You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

Quoted in Herbert V. Prochnow (1955), Speaker's Book of Epigrams and Witticisms
Misattributed

Related topics