Fear is not the basis for foreign policy. Margaret Thatcher More Quotes by Margaret Thatcher More Quotes From Margaret Thatcher 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. Margaret Thatcher wingsmeanthinking Consensus is the negation of leadership. Margaret Thatcher negationconsensusleadership When you take into public ownership a profitable industry the profits soon disappear. The goose that laid the golden eggs goes broody. State geese are not great layers. Margaret Thatcher layersgoldeneggs We shall take whatever action is necessary to contain the growth of the money supply. The government, unlike so many of its predecessors, will face up to economic realities. Margaret Thatcher governmentmoneyreality The National Health Service is safe with us. The principle of adequate healthcare should be provided for all regardless of ability to pay must be the function of any arrangements for financing the NHS. We stand by that. Margaret Thatcher nhsadequateprinciples I will not change just to court popularity. Margaret Thatcher popularitycourt Personal abuse is no substitute for policy. It signals panic. Margaret Thatcher panicabusecriticism 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. Margaret Thatcher powerfulprinciplesbelieve Of course you have a duty to show the disfigurations of society as well as its more agreeable aspects. But if TV in the western world uses its freedom continually to show all that is worst in our society, while the centrally controlled television of the Communist world and the dictatorships show only what is judged advantageous to them and suppress everything else, how are the uncommitted to judge between us? How can they fail to misjudge if they view matters only through a distorted mirror? Margaret Thatcher mirrorsjudgingviews We weren't getting a fair deal on the budget and I wasn't going to have it. There's a great strand of equity and fairness in the British people - this is our characteristic. There's not a strand of equity and fairness in Europe - they're out to get as much as they can. That's one of those enormous differences. So I tackled it on that basis. Margaret Thatcher differenceseuropepeople I would just like to remember some words of St. Francis of Assisi which I think are really just particularly apt at the moment. 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope. Margaret Thatcher st-francis-of-assisierrorsthinking Object to merit and distinction, and you're setting your face against quality, independence, originality, genius against all the richness and variety of life. When you hold back the successful, you penalize those who need help. Margaret Thatcher independenceambitionsuccessful First you win the argument, then you win the vote. Margaret Thatcher politicswinningfirsts 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. Margaret Thatcher impactprinciplesnumbers When others spoke of the fear of war, you spoke of the need for warriors and peace through strength. When others bewailed the failure of big government to provide for the collective good, you spoke of self-reliance, of personal responsibility, of individual pride and integrity. When others preached compromise - when others demanded compromise, you, Ronald Reagan, preached conviction. Margaret Thatcher responsibilityintegritywar Women have plenty of roles in which they can serve with distinction: some of us even run countries. But generally we are better at wielding the handbag than the bayonet. Margaret Thatcher rolesrunningcountry I started out in life with two great advantages: No money and good parents. Margaret Thatcher advantageparenttwo [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 fateresponsibilitygiving America, my friends, is the only country in the world actually founded on liberty - the only one. People went to America to be free. Margaret Thatcher countryamericapeople Remember, George, this is no time to go wobbly. Margaret Thatcher gulf-wartimeremember
