Margaret Hilda Thatcher (1925–2013,) also identified by the title Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, was a British Conservative stateswoman who served as Britain’s prime minister from 1979 till 1990. She is celebrated as one of the greatest and the most influential politicians in British history.
For more than a decade, Thatcher enjoyed almost unchallenged political mastery, winning three consecutive general elections. Nicknamed “The Iron Lady” as early as 1976, Thatcher became known for her willpower and her emphasis on individual responsibility and enterprise. Her time in office was marked by monetarist policies, privatization of nationalized industries, and legislation of trade unions. The direction she pursued with intense energy and steadfast will brought about a transformation of Britain’s economic performance.
In retirement, Thatcher became a member of the House of Lords in 1992 and raised funds for her Thatcher Foundation. She also wrote her best-selling memoirs, The Downing Street Years (1993) and The Path to Power (1995.)
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Nothing is more obstinate than a fashionable consensus.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Fashion
If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
—Margaret Thatcher
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win.
—Margaret Thatcher
If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Leaders, Leadership
Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Success & Failure, Achievement
In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Action
You don’t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Deception/Lying, Lies
I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.
—Margaret Thatcher
It pays to know the enemy — not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.
—Margaret Thatcher
No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Purpose, Intentions
Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Commitment, Dedication
Home is where you come to when you have nothing better to do.
—Margaret Thatcher
If it is once again one against forty-eight, then I am very sorry for the forty-eight.
—Margaret Thatcher
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.
—Margaret Thatcher
Topics: Success, Work, Hard Work
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 when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.
—Margaret Thatcher
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