Monday, April 8, 2013

RIP, Baroness Thatcher -- Updated

Margaret Thatcher - Wikipedia

Quotes:
  • I wish I could say that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had done himself less than justice. Unfortunately, I can only say that I believe he has done himself justice. Some Chancellors are macro-economic. Other Chancellors are fiscal. This one is just plain cheap. 
  • If a Tory does not believe that private property is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom, then he had better become a socialist and have done with it.  
  • And I will go on criticising Socialism, and opposing Socialism because it is bad for Britain — and Britain and Socialism are not the same thing. (...) It’s the Labour Government that have brought us record peace-time taxation. They’ve got the usual Socialist disease — they’ve run out of other people’s money. 
  •  A man's right to work as he will, to spend what he earns, to own property, to have the State as servant and not as master: these are the British inheritance. They are the essence of a free economy. And on that freedom all our other freedoms depend. 
  • I hate extremes of any kind. Communism and the National Front both seek the domination of the state over the individual. They both, I believe crush the right of the individual. To me, therefore, they are parties of a similar kind. All my life I have stood against banning Communism or other extremist organisations because, if you do that, they go underground and it gives them an excitement that they don't get if they are allowed to pursue their policies openly. We'll beat them into the ground on argument... The National Front is a Socialist Front. 
  • To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. [laughter] The lady's not for turning.  
UPDATE: That last may be her most famous, of course, but I like this one, which I've seen at a couple of other sitres:
"If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time and you would achieve nothing."  - 1989, commenting on her 10th anniversary as prime minister.

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