“I am the rebel head of an establishment government.”

— Margaret Thatcher

Remark to a reception at 10 Downing Street (24 June 1980), quoted in Norman St John-Stevas, The Two Cities (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p. 83
First term as Prime Minister

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Margaret Thatcher 348

British stateswoman and politician 1925–2013

Edmund Cooper (1926–1982) British writer

The Overman Culture (1971)

“New Leftists are not buying the collectivist doctrine of the established (Communist) organizations. They are quite simply libertarians, rebelling against unreasonable power and authority, whether it comes via established government or totalitarian (leftist) organizations.”

Phillip Abbott Luce (1935–1998)

Quoted in “Not All Protesters Part of Conspiracy,” Jerry R. Wilson, The Oklahoma Journal, August 7, 1972, speech by Phillip Abbott Luce in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“The only government that I recognize—and it matters not how few are at the head of it, or how small its army — is that power that establishes justice in the land, never that which establishes injustice.”

Henry David Thoreau book A Plea for Captain John Brown

A Plea for Captain John Brown (1859)

“I am a rebel by birth. … I contest anything that is unjust, that causes suffering in humanity.”

Yip Harburg (1896–1981) American song lyricist

"Yip Harburg: Secular Songwriter" by Dan Barker in Freethought Today Vol. 22, No. 3 (April 2005) http://archive.is/20120711052246/http://ffrf.org/fttoday/2005/april/barker.php
Context: I am a rebel by birth. … I contest anything that is unjust, that causes suffering in humanity. My feelings about that are so strong, I don't think I could live with myself if I weren't honest.

“America…has neither king, nobility nor clergy established by law and it is notwithstanding, I am satisfied, at this hour, the most flourishing and the best governed spot on the face of this earth.”

Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763–1798) Irish politician

Address to the peasantry of Ireland, by A Traveller (14 October 1796), quoted in T. W. Moody, R. B. McDowell and C. J. Woods (eds.), The Writings of Theobold Wolfe Tone, 1763–98, Volume II: America, France and Bantry Bay, August 1795 to December 1796 (2001), p. 352

“Jesus is a rebel, just as Buddha or Lao Tzu is. When the church starts establishing itself it starts destroying the rebelliousness of Jesus, Buddha, because rebellion cannot go with an establishment.”

Rajneesh (1931–1990) Godman and leader of the Rajneesh movement

The Mustard Seed (1975)

“I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day.”

James Joyce (1882–1941) Irish novelist and poet

“Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress.
Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess.
Rebel Rebel, how could they know?
Hot tramp, I love you so!”

David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger

Rebel Rebel
Song lyrics, Diamond Dogs (1974)

“If when I die, I am still a dictator, I will certainly go down into the oblivion of all dictators. If, on the other hand, I succeed in establishing a truly stable foundation for a democratic government, I will live forever in every home in China.”

Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) Chinese politician and military leader

Taiwan's Modernization: Americanization and Modernizing Confucian Manifestations, Wei-Bin Zhang, 2003, World Scientific, 2003, 177, 9814486132, 23 May 2021 https://books.google.com/books?id=J3BpDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177,

“Variant: I shall kick their teeth in. I am appointing the government. I am appointing the government by the support of this nation!”

Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989) Religious leader, politician

Speech at Behesht Zahra cemetery (1 February 1979), condemning the government of Shapour Bakhtiar

“I am the rebel head of an establishment government.”

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Margaret Thatcher 348

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