Margaret Thatcher quotes - page 3

[M]ore than they wanted freedom, the Athenians wanted security. Yet they lost everything-security, comfort, and freedom. This was because they wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them. The freedom they were seeking was freedom from responsibility. It is no wonder, then, that they ceased to be free. In the modern world, we should recall the Athenians' dire fate whenever we confront demands for increased state paternalism. (Margaret Thatcher)
Many senior policemen put greater emphasis on maintaining 'order' than on upholding the law. In practice that meant failing to uphold the rights of individuals against the rule of the mob. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
The West as a whole in the early 1990s become obsessed with a 'peace dividend' that would be spent over and over again on any number of soft-hearted and sometimes soft-headed causes. Politicians forget that the only real peace dividend is peace. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
At one end of the spectrum are the terrorist gangs within our borders, and the terrorist states which finance and arm them. At the other are the hard left operating inside our system, conspiring to use union power and the apparatus of local government to break, defy and subvert the law. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
I might have preferred iron, but bronze will do. It won't rust. And, this time I hope, the head will stay on. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
A man may climb Everest for himself, but at the summit he plants his country's flag. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
If you set out to be liked, you will accomplish nothing. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and importance, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.' They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is 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 to themselves first. It's our duty to look after ourselves and then, also to look after our neighbour. People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations. There's no such thing as entitlement, unless someone has first met an obligation. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
Don't follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you. (Margaret Thatcher)
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. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
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. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
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. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
Oh, but you know, you do not achieve anything without trouble, ever. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
You cannot build a great nation or brotherhood of man by spreading envy or hatred. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
There really is no alternative. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
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. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
It seems like cloud cuckoo land... If anyone is suggesting that I would go to Parliament and suggest the abolition of the pound sterling – no! ... We have made it quite clear that we will not have a single currency imposed on us. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
Peace, freedom and justice are only to be found where people are prepared to defend them. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
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. (Margaret Thatcher)
Just rejoice at that news and congratulate our forces and the marines... Rejoice. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
I must be absolutely clear about this. Britain cannot accept the present situation on the Budget. It is demonstrably unjust. It is politically indefensible: I cannot play Sister Bountiful to the Community while my own electorate are being asked to forego improvements in the fields of health, education, welfare and the rest. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
A world without nuclear weapons may be a dream but you cannot base a sure defence on dreams. Without far greater trust and confidence between East and West than exists at present, a world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us. View quote
Margaret Thatcher
People from my sort of background needed Grammar schools to compete with children from privileged homes like Shirley Williams and Anthony Wedgwood Benn. View quote
Margaret Thatcher