1925-, British Stateswoman, Prime Minister (1979-90)
Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.
Margaret Thatcher – [Home]
Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.
Margaret Thatcher – [Power]
Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.
Margaret Thatcher – [America]
I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.
Margaret Thatcher – [Cheerfulness]
I am extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.
Margaret Thatcher – [Patience]
I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.
Margaret Thatcher – [Politicians and Politics]
I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but it will get you pretty near.
Margaret Thatcher – [Work, Hard]
I don't mind how much my ministers talk — as long as they do what I say.
Margaret Thatcher – [Talkativeness]
I owe nothing to Women's Lib.
Margaret Thatcher – [Feminism]
I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.
Margaret Thatcher – [Agreement]
I shan't be pulling the levers there but I shall be a very good back-seat driver.
Margaret Thatcher – [Power]
I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.
Margaret Thatcher – [Opinions]
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.
Margaret Thatcher – [Perseverance]
If it is once again one against forty-eight, then I am very sorry for the forty-eight.
Margaret Thatcher – [Opposition]
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 – [Leaders and Leadership]
It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.
Margaret Thatcher – [Power]
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 – [Enemies]
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 – [Achievement]
Most women defend themselves. It is the female of the species — it is the tigress and lioness in you — which tends to defend when attacked.
Margaret Thatcher – [Women]
No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he only had good intentions. He had money as well.
Margaret Thatcher – [Intentions]