The Lady speaks
"I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime."
— Thatcher in a 1973 interview
"Women shouldn't meddle in politics? Mr. Tito, I don't 'meddle' in politics. I am politics."
— Thatcher in a rejoinder to Josip Broz Tito, later recounted by columnists such as in National Review
"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. [laughs] The lady's not for turning."
—Responding to criticisms from her own party, 1980 Tory conference
"Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them."
— Thatcher in a 1976 interview
"They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."
— Thatcher in a 1987 interview
"People on all levels of income are better off than they were in 1979. The hon. Gentleman is saying that he would rather that the poor were poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That way you will never create the wealth for better social services as we have. And what a policy. Yes, he would rather have the poor poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That is the Liberal policy."
— Thatcher in her last speech at the House of Commons, 1990
About
Maggie Thatcher, you can't match her
She's the darling of us all
She's the curse of the Irish Nation
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail
She's destroyed me hire purchase and she's put me on the dole
If I could only get my hands on her, I'd kick her up the hole
She's the darling of us all
She's the curse of the Irish Nation
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail
She's destroyed me hire purchase and she's put me on the dole
If I could only get my hands on her, I'd kick her up the hole
—Sean Brady, "The Thatcher Song"
If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary. I warn you not to be young. I warn you not to fall ill. I warn you not to get old.
— Neil Kinnock, before the 1983 elections
"The questioner was mystified. She just knew that all war was bad somehow, and though, from firsthand experience, I incline to her view, I did suggest that it was not such a good thing for her—or for anyone—to be so unaware of history... Naturally, she identified all war with men. Once women are in power, war will be politically incorrect, as Mrs. Thatcher demonstrated."
— Gore Vidal, Point to Point Navigation
"History is written by the victors, and while Thatcher herself may be gone it's considerably less clear that the historical moment that she represents has given way to a new one. The 1980s, even in their longest sense, have ended, sure. But if a coherent "next step" from Thatcherism exists we remain, at the time of writing, too in the middle of it to define its edges."
"Everyone, meet Maggie! She's going to be playing a lawful evil elf fighter. I've rolled her up a good build — high constitution, high strength, high charisma, though I had to put her dump stat on wisdom — but that won't matter for a fighter. She's starting with the leadership, power attack and iron will feats, and has a great backstory of hating dwarves."
Eric André: [upbeat tone] Do you think Margaret Thatcher had girl power?
Eric Andre: [still upbeat] Do you think she effectively utilized girl power by funneling money to illegal paramilitary death squads in Northern Ireland?
'Thatcher famously carried a handbag with her wherever she went. On occasion she used this to batter three Soviet leaders to death, and once defeated an entire Panzer division using only her handbag."
"If you don't think a woman can handle a war, ask the Argentinians."
— Robin Williams, Weapons of Self-Destruction
"Mais qu'est-ce qu'elle me veut cette mégère?! Mes couilles sur un plateau?!" note
—Jacques Chirac, February 1988, when he was Prime Minister of France, during a heated debate about the UK's EU rebate in Brussels. He thought his microphone was turned off. It wasn't.
"For £3 million, they could buy everyone in Scotland a shovel, and we would dig a hole so deep that we could hand her over to Satan personally!”
—Frankie Boyle, in response to the suggested cost of a state funeral.
"It is immaterial that she is dead. That she suffered is enough."
—Warren Ellis, referencing Thatcher's death and prior bout with dementia
