Margaret Thatcher

We do not have a freehold on the earth, only a full repairing lease

If you have a sense of purpose and a sense of direction, I believe people will follow you. Democracy isn't just about deducing what the people want. Democracy is leading the people as well.

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.

We simply cannot delegate the exercise of mercy and generosity to others.

There are some remarkable parallels between basketball and politics. Michael Jordan has already mastered the skill most needed for political success: how to stay aloft without visible means of support.

There are no personal sympathies in politics.

Remember, George, this is no time to go wobbly.

I don't think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime.

Being democratic is not enough, a majority cannot turn what is wrong into right. In order to be considered truly free, countries must also have a deep love of liberty and an abiding respect for the rule of law.

Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money.

To me consensus seems to be - the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no-one believes, but to which no-one objects - the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner "I stand for consensus"?

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 a day you've had everything to do and you've done it.