One of the Greatest Leaders in the Twentieth Century
The iron lady with a velvet glove
She graduated from Oxford University in 1947 with a degree in chemistry. Working as a food scientist for a brief time, she went back to school and became a barrister (a lawyer in America).
Losing her first two parliamentary elections, she adopted the slogan “Vote Right to Keep What’s Left.” She predicted “There will not be a woman prime minister in my lifetime,” because “The male population is too prejudiced.” Yet she not only became prime minister, she served in the position for more than 11 years, longer than anyone in the twentieth century!
After giving a strong anti-communist speech in 1976 a Soviet newspaper called her the “Iron Lady,” a moniker that stuck with her throughout her career.
Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925 in Grantham, England. She married Denis Thatcher, a wealthy businessman, in 1951. They had twins, Mark and Carol, in 1953. She died at 87 years of age in 2013.
Thatcher was known as a tough, controversial leader. She was good friends with Ronald Reagan and considered one of the staunchest allies America has ever known. She will no doubt be forever remembered as one of the greatest leaders in the twentieth century.
Following is an arrangement of many of my favorite Thatcher quotes from a variety of sources.
Enjoy!
Wit and Humor
“I wasn’t lucky. I deserved it.”
“It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.”
“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”
“To wear your heart on your sleeve isn’t a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.”
-
“Platitudes? Yes, there are platitudes. Platitudes are there because they are true.”
“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.”
“Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth.”
-
“If it is once again one against forty-eight, then I am very sorry for the forty-eight.”
“If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn’t swim.”
“A week is a long time in politics.”
Wisdom
“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.”
“No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions; he had money as well.”
I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but it will get you pretty near.
-
It pays to know the enemy — not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.
“Of course it’s the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.”
“The spirit of envy can destroy; it can never build.”
-
“Oh, but you know, you do not achieve anything without trouble, ever.”
“There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.”
Leadership
“Defeat? I do not recognize the meaning of the word.”
“Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.”
“I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.”
“Being prime minister is a lonely job… you cannot lead from the crowd.”
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
-
“If you just set out to be liked, you will be prepared to compromise on anything at anytime, and would achieve nothing.”
“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.”
“Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.”
A Lady
“Power is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
“Any leader has to have a certain amount of steel in them, so I am not that put out being called the Iron Lady.”
“To those waiting with bated breath for that favorite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only this to say, ‘You turn if you want; the lady’s not for turning.”
“What Britain needs is an iron lady.”
Women
“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.”
“In politics, If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
“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.”
“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”
-
“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.”
“One of the things being in politics has taught me is that men are not a reasoned or reasonable sex.”
“It is always important in matters of high politics to know what you do not know. Those who think that they know, but are mistaken, and act upon their mistakes, are the most dangerous people to have in charge.”
Conservatism and Liberalism
“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.”
“The facts of life are conservative.”
“We Conservatives hate unemployment.”
“There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty.”
-
“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.”
“It used to be about trying to do something. Now it’s about trying to be someone.”
“I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.”
-
“To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.”
“It is not the creation of wealth that is wrong, but the love of money for its own sake.”
“There is much to be said for trying to improve some disadvantaged people’s lot. There is nothing to be said for trying to create heaven on earth.”
-
“Whether it is in the United States or in mainland Europe, written constitutions have one great weakness. That is that they contain the potential to have judges take decisions which should properly be made by democratically elected politicians.”
“There are still people in my party who believe in consensus politics. I regard them as Quislings, as traitors… I mean it.”
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.”
Freedom and Socialism
“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.”
“When people are free to choose, they choose freedom.”
“When people are free to choose, they choose freedom.”
-
“Some Socialists seem to believe that people should be numbers in a State computer. We believe they should be individuals. We are all unequal. No one, thank heavens, is like anyone else, however much the Socialists may pretend otherwise. We believe that everyone has the right to be unequal but to us every human being is equally important.”
“To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukaemia with leeches.”
“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.”
-
“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.”
“They’ve got the usual Socialist disease — they’ve run out of other people’s money.”
“Whether manufactured by black, white, brown or yellow hands, a widget remains a widget — and it will be bought anywhere if the price and quality are right. The market is a more powerful and more reliable liberating force than government can ever be.”
-
“To be free is better than to be unfree — always. Any politician who suggests the opposite should be treated as suspect.”
“Constitutions have to be written on hearts, not just paper.”
“We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state.”
Government
“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.”
“A world without nuclear weapons would be less stable and more dangerous for all of us.”
“The larger the slice taken by government, the smaller the cake available for everyone.”
-
“Every family should have the right to spend their money, after tax, as they wish, and not as the government dictates. Let us extend choice, extend the will to choose and the chance to choose.”
“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.”
“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.”
America
“There are significant differences between the American and European version of capitalism. The American traditionally emphasizes the need for limited government, light regulations, low taxes and maximum labour-market flexibility. Its success has been shown above all in the ability to create new jobs, in which it is consistently more successful than Europe.”
“Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.”
“I too have a certain idea of America. Moreover, I would not feel entitled to say that of any other country, except my own. This is not just sentiment, though I always feel ten years younger — despite the jet-lag — when I set foot on American soil: there is something so positive, generous, and open about the people — and everything actually works. I also feel, though, that I have in a sense a share of America.”
I hope you have a better understanding of Thatcher from these few quotes. She lived an amazing life, breaking the glass ceiling in politics in the United Kingdom. It takes great courage to lead a life as she did.
I leave you with this final quote from her wisdom:
“Watch your thoughts, for they will become actions. Watch your actions, for they’ll become your… habits. Watch your habits for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny.”
Follow Thatcher’s example, reach deep inside, and develop the courage to reach new heights in your own life!
Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION.
Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out others below.