16 of the Greatest Margaret Thatcher Quotes

Cold Warriors: President Roland Reagan, Blessed John Paul II, & Baroness Margaret Thatcher.

On April 8, 2013, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the last of a Cold Warrior triumvirate that included President Ronald Reagan and Blessed John Paul II, died of stroke, leaving the world to reflect on her remarkable legacy.

“It was with great sadness that I learned of Lady Thatcher’s death. We have lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister, and a great Briton,” said current British Prime Minister David Cameron. “Lady Thatcher didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country.”

“With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend,” President Barak Obama said in a statement released by the White House.

And although she is remembered most for her political achievements and her steely resolve in bringing down the hated Iron Curtain, she was also know for her flair for rhetoric and her razor-sharp wit.

So, in honor of the passing of the great Iron Lady, here are 16 of the best Thatcherisms:

On Getting Things Done:

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"If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

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“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.”

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“I'm extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.”

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An Iron Prime Minister:

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“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.”

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“I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.”

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“Do you think you would ever have heard of Christianity if the Apostles had gone out and said, ‘I believe in consensus?’”

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“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.”

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On Her Critics:

Aged 24. While campaigning as the youngest and only female candidate for the Tory seat in Dartford, Kent, Margaret Roberts worked as a research chemist. (Getty Images.)

“If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim.”

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On the Start of the Falkland Wars:

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“Defeat? I do not recognize the meaning of the word.”

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On Government:

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“We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state.”

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On Humanity, Society, & Feminism:

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“The woman's mission is not to enhance the masculine spirit, but to express the feminine; hers is not to preserve a man-made world, but to create a human world by the infusion of the feminine element into all of its activities.”

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“I owe nothing to Women's Lib.”

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“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.”

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On America:

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"Europe will never be like America. Europe is a product of history. America is a product of philosophy."

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On Socialism:

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“Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money. It's quite characteristic of them.”

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“And what a prize we have to fight for: no less than the chance to banish from our land the dark divisive clouds of Marxist socialism.”

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