"I've learned one thing in politics. You don't take a decision until you have to."
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Quote collection
Margaret Thatcher quotes (page 25 of 26)
508 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"President Numeiri of Sudan is said to have remarked of Gadaffi that he was 'a man with a split personality - both of them evil'."
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"We are very fortunate to have someone else's weapons stationed on our soil, to fight those targeted on us."
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"I am convinced that there is little force left in the Marxist stimulus to revolution. Its impetus is petering out as the practical failures of the doctrine become more obvious...What is left is a technique of subversion and a collection of catch-phrases. The former is still dangerous. Like terrorism, it is a menace that needs to be fought whenever it occurs."
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"The Government wants a peaceful settlement. But we totally reject a peaceful sell-out."
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"I'm standing up for the right of self-determination. I'm standing up for our territory. I'm standing up for our people. I'm standing up for international law. I'm standing up for all those territories - those small territories and peoples the world over - who, if someone doesn't stand up and say to an invader 'enough, stop', would be at risk."
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"Just rejoice at the news and congratulate our armed forces and the Marines. Rejoice!"
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"We had to do what we had to do - Britain is great again."
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"We have been ruled by men who live by illusions ... the illusion that there is some other way of creating wealth than hard work and satisfying your customers."
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"Business success isn't just a selfish aim. Profits spread beyond those who make them and bring jobs and prosperity."
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"The fact that seasoned politicians can say such ridiculous things - and get away with it - illustrates the degree to which the new dogma... has swept through the left-of-centre governing classes."
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"I think Essex Man will vote for a Conservative Government."
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"I'm also very much aware that it is you who brought democracy to Chile, you set up a constitution suitable for democracy, you put it into effect, elections were held, and then, in accordance with the result, you stepped down."
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"My first guiding principle is this: willing and active co-operation between independent sovereign states. Europe will be stronger precisely because it has France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its own customs, traditions and identity. It would be folly to try to fit them into some sort of identikit European personality."
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"In the same period that the Americans have lived under one constitution our French friends notched up five. A Punch cartoon has a 19th century Englishman asking a librarian for a copy of the French constitution, only to be told: 'I am sorry Sir, we do not stock periodicals.'"
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"What is right for the family is right for Britain."
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"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."
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"I cannot imagine how any diplomat, or any dramatist, could improve on (Ronald Reagan's) words to Mikhail Gorbachev at the Geneva summit: 'Let me tell you why it is we distrust you.' Those words are candid and tough and they cannot have been easy to hear. But they are also a clear invitation to a new beginning and a new relationship that would be rooted in trust."
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"A democratic Europe of nation states could be a force for liberty, enterprise and open trade. But, if creating a United States of Europe overrides these goals, the new Europe will be one of subsidy and protection"
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"I pay tribute to John Major's achievement in persuading the other 11 Community Heads of Government that they could move ahead to a Social Chapter but not within the treaty and without Britain's participation. It sets a vital precedent. For an enlarged Community can only function if we build in flexibility of that kind... John Major deserves high praise for ensuring at Maastricht that we would not have either a Single Currency or the absurd provisions of the Social Chapter forced upon us: our industry, workforce, and national prosperity will benefit as a result."
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