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Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher Quotes

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

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Famous Margaret Thatcher Quotes

“At one end of the spectrum are the terrorist gangs within our borders, and the terrorist states which finance and arm them. At the other are the hard left operating inside our system, conspiring to use union power and the apparatus of local government to break, defy and subvert the law.”

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Book:The collected speeches of Margaret Thatcher
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“[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.”

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Author:Margaret Thatcher
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“Some Socialists seem to believe that people should be numbers in a State computer. We believe they should be individuals. We are all unequal. No one, thank heavens, is like anyone else, however much the Socialists may pretend otherwise. We believe that everyone has the right to be unequal but to us every human being is equally important.”

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Book:Let our children grow tall: selected speeches, 1975-1977
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“A democratic Europe of nation states could be a force for liberty, enterprise and open trade. But, if creating a United States of Europe overrides these goals, the new Europe will be one of subsidy and protection”

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Book:As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations
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“We believe in a free Europe, not a standardised Europe. Diminish that variety within the member states, and you impoverish the whole Community. We insist that the institutions of the European Community are managed so that they increase the liberty of the individual throughout the continent. These institutions must not be permitted to dwindle into bureaucracy. Whenever they fail to enlarge freedom the institutions should be criticised and the balance restored.”

ShouldBelieveStatesWholeIndividualCommunityLibertyFailingBalanceMembersEuropeIncreaseInstitutionsVarietyContinentsBureaucracyDiminish
Book:As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations
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“My first guiding principle is this: willing and active co-operation between independent sovereign states. Europe will be stronger precisely because it has France as France, Spain as Spain, Britain as Britain, each with its own customs, traditions and identity. It would be folly to try to fit them into some sort of identikit European personality.”

TryingFirstsStatesWould BePrinciplesIdentityWillingPersonalityFitEuropeTraditionStrongerIndependentActiveFranceOperationsFollyBritainCustomsSovereignSpainGuiding Principles
Book:CPC [publications].
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“We must not fall into the trap of projecting our own morality onto the Soviet leaders. They do not share our aspirations, they are not constrained by our ethics, they always consider themselves exempt from the rules that bind other states.”

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Book:In defence of freedom: speeches on Britain's relations with the world 1976-1986
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“Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put at risk of arrest and prosecution, the United States will be most reluctant to act in order to curb aggression or prevent genocide. So the effect of the court may well be to diminish, not increase, the numbers of (in the words of the UN Secretary General) 'innocents of distant wars and conflicts'.”

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Author:Margaret Thatcher
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“Let me give you my vision: 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 country, and on that freedom all of our other freedoms depend.”

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Book:Let our children grow tall: selected speeches, 1975-1977
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“Communist regimes were not some unfortunate aberration, some historical deviation from a socialist ideal. They were the ultimate expression, unconstrained by democratic and electoral pressures, of what socialism is all about. ... In short, the state [is] everything and the individual nothing.”

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Author:Margaret Thatcher
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“Let us never forget this fundamental truth: the State has no source of money other than money which people earn themselves. If the State wishes to spend more it can do so only by borrowing your savings or by taxing you more. It is no good thinking that someone else will pay - that 'someone else' is you. There is no such thing as public money; there is only taxpayers' money.”

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Book:The revival of Britain: speeches on home and European affairs, 1975-1988
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“I hate extremes of any kind. Communism [seeks] the domination of the state over the individual... 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...”

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Author:Margaret Thatcher
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“I believe we should continue to have a partnership of national states each retaining the right to protect its vital interests, but developing more effectively than at present the habit of working together.”

ShouldBelieveStatesTogetherI BelieveInterestHabitProtectEuropeDevelopingBritainWorking TogetherPartnershipRetaining
Book:As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations
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