Margaret thatcher quotes

Communism produces neither dignity nor prosperity. It takes all power away from the people and places it in the hands of a self-appointed elite. And because it distorts and manipulates the distinctive talents of individuals rather than letting those talents flourish, it prevents progress and prosperity.

In the background lurks the scourge of international terrorism. There are people exercising power in a few countries and leading political factions in others who seem to be moved by narrow, brutal and irrational impulses. Their view of their own self-interest is so blinkered as to leave no space for purely human values, for peaceful negotiation or for economic advancement. They are bent on the destruction of the established order and of civilised ways of doing business. They must never be allowed to succeed.

There are too many people who imagine that there is something sophisticated about always believing the best of those who hate your country, and the worst of those who defend it.

I would just like to remember some words of St. Francis of Assisi which I think are really just particularly apt at the moment. 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.

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

Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus.

Socialists have always spent much of their time seeking new titles for their beliefs, because the old versions so quickly become outdated and discredited.

What 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.

If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim.

I am an undiluted admirer of American values and the American dream and I believe they will continue to inspire not just the people of the United States but millions across the face of the globe.

Remember the 'Parable of the Talents' in the New Testament? Christ exhorts us to be the best we can be by developing our skills and abilities, by succeeding in all our tasks and endeavors. What better description can there be of capitalism?

Each generation has to stand up for democracy. It can't take anything for granted and may have to fight fundamental battles anew.

I'm happy as a dog with two dicks

There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.

Marxists get up early to further their cause. We must get up even earlier to defend our freedom.

For every idealistic peacemaker willing to renounce his self-defence in favour of a weapons-free world, there is at least one warmaker anxious to exploit the other's good intentions.

We want a society in which we are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. That is what we mean by a moral society - not a society in which the State is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the State.

Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become habits. Watch your habits for they become your character. And watch your character for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that... and I think I am fine.

Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.

A quick cure is a quack cure.

I wouldn't be worth my salt if I weren't attracting some controversy and criticism. Everyone in the world who has done something in life has attracted criticism.

Defeat? I do not recognize the meaning of the word.

Dictators can be deterred, they can be crushed - but they can never be appeased.

It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone.

Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.

(A unified) 'Europe' is the result of plans. It is, in fact, a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damage done is in doubt.

Good Conservatives always pay their bills. And on time. Not like the Socialists who run up other people's bills.

I started out in life with two great advantages: No money and good parents.

Power is like being a lady... if you have to tell people you are, you aren't.

Ideally, when Christians meet, as Christians do, to take counsel together, their purpose is not ( or should not be) to ascertain what is the mind of the majority but what is the mind of the Holy Spirit - something which may be quite different.

The spirit of envy can destroy; it can never build.

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.

The 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.

Don't follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.

I do believe that political arrangements which are based upon violence, intimidation and theft will eventually break down - and will deserve to do so.

Of course it's the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.

If you want to cut your own throat, don't come to me for a bandage.

The desire to achieve grand utopian plans often poses a grave threat to freedom.

I can't help to spit nails when just thinking about Trade Unions

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.

Everything a politician promises at election time has to be paid for either by higher taxation or by borrowing.

We will stand on principle or we will not stand at all.

Life's greatest reward is life itself

All corporatism - even when practised in societies where hard work, enterprise and cooperation are as highly valued as in Korea - encourages inflexibility, discourages individual accountability, and risks magnifying errors by concealing them.

When you stop a dictator, there are always risks. But there are greater risks in not stopping a dictator.

No Western nation has to build a wall round itself to keep its people in.

Leadership is about having principles. A leader must have a vision and principles that will endure for all time and must always be true to these principles, applying them to changing circumstances

A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.

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.

Freedom is not synonymous with an easy life. ... There are many difficult things about freedom: It does not give you safety, it creates moral dilemmas for you; it requires self-discipline; it imposes great responsibilities; but such is the nature of Man and in such consists his glory and salvation.

Citizenship should be based on those who have a close and real relationship with this country and its inhabitants.

I am not a consensus politician. Im a conviction politician.

Socialists don't like ordinary people choosing, for they might not choose Socialism.

It is your tax which pays for public spending. The government have no money of their own. There is only taxpayers' money.

America, my friends, is the only country in the world actually founded on liberty - the only one. People went to America to be free.

Freedom will destroy itself if it is not exercised within some sort of moral framework, some body of shared beliefs, some spiritual heritage transmitted through the Church, the family, and the school.

It is not the business of politicians to please everyone.

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

The larger the slice taken by government, the smaller the cake available for everyone.

No great goal was ever easily achieved.

I went to Oxford University - but I've never let that hold me back.

The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of everyone else's money.

The price of freedom is still, and always will be, eternal vigilance.

Europe will never be like America. Europe is a product of history. America is a product of philosophy.

We had to fight the enemy without in the Falklands. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty.

You do not achieve anything without trouble, ever.

To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukaemia with leeches.

That nations that have gone for equality, like Communism, have neither freedom nor justice nor equality, they've the greatest inequalities of all, the privileges of the politicians are far greater compared with the ordinary folk than in any other country. The nations that have gone for freedom, justice and independence of people have still freedom and justice, and they have far more equality between their people, far more respect for each individual than the other nations. Go my way. You will get freedom and justice and much less difference between people than you do in the Soviet Union.

The first step in calculating which way to go is to find out where you are.

The Labour Party believes in turning workers against owners; we believe in turning workers into owners.

When you hold back the successful, you penalize those who need help.

If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.

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.

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.

What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.

If it's me against 48, I feel sorry for the 48.

To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.

Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money.

The woman's mission is not to enhance the masculine spirit, but to express the feminine; hers is not to preserve a man-made world, but to create a human world by the infusion of the feminine element into all of its activities.

It is not the creation of wealth that is wrong, but the love of money for its own sake.

Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.

Let us never forget this fundamental truth: the State has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves. If the State wishes to spend more it can do so only by borrowing your savings or by taxing you more. It is no good thinking that someone else will pay - that 'someone else' is you. There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money.

The government has no money of its own. It's all your money.

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

In a system of free trade and free markets poor countries - and poor people - are not poor because others are rich. Indeed, if others became less rich the poor would in all probability become still poorer.

The truths of the Judaic-Christian tradition, are infinitely precious, not only, as I believe, because they are true, but also because they provide the moral impulse which alone can lead to that peace, in the true meaning of the word, for which we all long. . . . There is little hope for democracy if the hearts of men and women in democratic societies cannot be touched by a call to something greater than themselves.

I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.

Communist 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.

The legal system we have and the rule of law are far more responsible for our traditional liberties than any system of one man one vote. Any country or Government which wants to proceed towards tyranny starts to undermine legal rights and undermine the law.

The lesson is clear. Inflation devalues us all.

Many of our troubles are due to the fact that our people turn to politicians for everything.

The wisdom of hindsight, so useful to historians and indeed to authors of memoirs, is sadly denied to practicing politicians.

The feminists hate me, don't they? And I don't blame them. For I hate feminism. It is poison.

If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.

There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation.

History has taught us that freedom cannot long survive unless it is based on moral foundations. You can get the economics right, but in addition liberty must be cultivated as a moral quality.

A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.

What? What am I 'bound to be feeling?' People don’t think anymore. They feel. 'How are you feeling? No, I don’t feel comfortable. I’m sorry, we as a group we’re feeling….' 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. Thoughts and ideas. That interests me. Ask me what I’m thinking.

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.

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.

Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose.

Never flinch. Make up your own mind and do it.

Left-wing zealots have often been prepared to ride roughshod over due process and basic considerations of fairness when they think they can get away with it. For them the ends always seems to justify the means. That is precisely how their predecessors came to create the gulag.

Our children need strong families raising them with sturdy virtues, not to be smothered in the cold arms of the state.

Individualism has come in for an enormous amount of criticism over the years. It still does. It is widely assumed to be synonymous with selfishness...But the main reason why so many people in power have always disliked individualism is because it is individualists who are ever keenest to prevent the abuse of authority.

My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day's work for an honest day's pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.

...Conservatives have excellent credentials to speak about human rights. By our efforts, and with precious little help from self-styled liberals, we were largely responsible for securing liberty for a substantial share of the world's population and defending it for most of the rest.

A man may climb Everest for himself, but at the summit he plants his country's flag.

Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.

If your only opportunity is to be equal then it is not opportunity.

To me consensus seems to be - the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no-one believes, but to which no-one objects - the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner "I stand for consensus"?

People constantly requesting government intervention are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there's no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbours.

Let us never forget this fundamental truth: The State has no source of money other than the money people themselves earn.

If you set out to be liked, you will accomplish nothing.

Terrorism thrives on a free society. The terrorist uses the feelings in a free society to sap the will of civilization to resist. If the terrorist succeeds, he has won and the whole of free society has lost.

You don't win by just being against things, you only win by being for things and making your message perfectly clear.

You cannot make an omelet without breaking some balls

No theory of government was ever given a fairer test or a more prolonged experiment in a democratic country than democratic socialism received in Britain. Yet it was a miserable failure in every respect... To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukemia with leeches.

It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.

Socialists cry “Power to the people”, and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean - power over people, power to the State.

Women have plenty of roles in which they can serve with distinction: some of us even run countries. But generally we are better at wielding the handbag than the bayonet.

If you are guided by opinion polls, you are not practicing leadership -- you are practicing followership.

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.