The Twelve Best Margaret Thatcher Quotes

"I wasn't lucky, I deserved it." -- Margaret Thatcher at age 9, on winning a school prize, as reported by the BBC.

On politics:

“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.” -- Speech to Conservative Central Council, March 15, 1986.

“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” -- Interview with Press Association on May 3, 1989, for the 10th anniversary of her Premiership.

“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.” -- Her book "The Downing Street Years," 1993.

On economics:

“Pennies don't fall from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth.” -- Speech at Lord Mayor’s Banquet, Nov. 12, 1979.

“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.” -- Speech to Small Business Bureau Conference, Feb. 8, 1984.

“To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukemia with leeches.” -- Her Book "The Downing Street Years," 1993.

On foreign affairs:

“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.” -- Speech at a Soviet Official banquet, March 30, 1987.

“In my lifetime all our problems have come from mainland Europe and all the solutions have come from the English-speaking nations across the world.” -- Speech to Scottish Tories, Oct. 6, 1999.

“I never hugged him. I bombed him.” -- Responding to a picture of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair embracing Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Ghadafi, March 13, 2011.

On women:

“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.” -- Speech, 1975

“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.” -- Attributed to Thatcher by Madeline Kunin in Pearls, Politics & Power, published 2008.

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” -- Speech to National Union of Townswomen’s Guilds Conference on May 20, 1965.