Iron Lady Quotes

Any leader has to have a certain amount of steel in them, so I am not that put out being called the Iron Lady.

I want to be America's Margaret Thatcher. I will be the next 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.

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

I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime.

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

I was asked whether I was trying to restore Victorian values. I said straight out I was. And I am.

There's no such thing as society.

I never hugged him, I bombed him.

I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.

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

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

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

I don't mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say.

I am not immortal, but I've got a lot left in me yet.

It's the Labour Government that have brought us record peacetime taxation. They've got the usual Socialist disease - they've run out of other people's money.

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

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.

When you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment, it's exciting to have a real crisis on your hands.

All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail. It must be business as usual.

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

It pays to know the enemy - not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.

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.

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.

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.

Democratic nations must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.

Gentlemen, if we don't cut spending we will be bankrupt. Yes, the medicine is harsh, but the patient requires it in order to live. Should we withhold the medicine? No. We are not wrong. We did not seek election and win in order to manage the decline of a great nation.

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

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

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

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

There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their roughness and spirit of defiance.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you tonight in my …  chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up, my fair hair gently waved, the Iron Lady of the Western world. Me? A Cold War warrior? … Well, yes — if that is how they wish to interpret my defense of values of freedoms fundamental to our way 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.

I like Mr Gorbachev, we can do business together.

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

I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society - from a give-it-to-me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.

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

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.

Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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