Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: America
Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Fashion
The cocks may crow, but it’s the hen that lays the egg.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Nature, Men & Women, Men, Men and Women, Power, Women
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 when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.
—Margaret Thatcher
It pays to know the enemy—not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.
—Margaret Thatcher
Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Home
A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Weapon
Pennies don’t fall from heaven. They have to be earned on earth.
—Margaret Thatcher
I 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
Topics: Hard Work, Success, Work
Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Nation
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win.
—Margaret Thatcher
I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Patience
If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn’t swim.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Criticism
There are no personal sympathies in politics.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Politics
Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Dedication, Commitment
Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Success & Failure, Achievement
No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Intentions, Purpose
People think that at the top there isn’t much room. They tend to think of it as an Everest. My message is that there is tons of room at the top.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Opportunity
One of the things being in politics has taught me is that men are not a reasoned or reasonable sex.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Men
I don’t mind how much my ministers talk—as long as they do what I say.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Conversation
If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
—Margaret Thatcher
I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Agreement
I’ve got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Persistence, Perseverance
I love being at the center of things.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Power
If 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 Thatcher
Topics: Leadership, Leaders
Most women defend themselves. It is the female of the species—it is the tigress and lioness in you—which tends to defend when attacked.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Women
One only gets to the top rung of the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you—suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, “Well, I’ll have a go, too.”
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Success
You don’t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Lying, Lies, Deception/Lying
Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Power, Poverty
I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Arguments
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
- Winston Churchill British Head of State
- Enoch Powell British Politician
- Harold Macmillan British Head of State
- Benjamin Disraeli British Head of State
- William Ewart Gladstone English Liberal Statesman
- Neville Chamberlain British Head of State
- Ramsay MacDonald British Head of State
- David Lloyd George British Liberal Statesman
- E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax British Politician
- Indira Gandhi Indian Head of State
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