Never in the history of human credit has so much been owed.
Margaret ThatcherRead
When will Labour learn that you cannot build Jerusalem in Brussels.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Margaret Thatcher asserts that one cannot achieve lofty ideals in a bureaucratic setting.
This quote by Margaret Thatcher emphasizes the tension between local aspirations and the constraints imposed by larger bureaucratic structures. The reference to 'building Jerusalem' symbolizes the pursuit of a grand vision or ideal, while 'Brussels' represents the European Union's regulatory environment, suggesting that such aspirations may be compromised or unfavorably altered in a complex political system.
Themes
PoliticsBureaucracyAspirationIdealismRegulation
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the effectiveness of government policies, one might reference this quote to argue against the feasibility of ambitious projects in a bureaucratic context.
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Ought we not to ask the media to agree among themselves a voluntary code of conduct, under which they would not say or show anything which could assist the terrorists' morale or their cause while the hijack lasted.
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Israel must never be expected to jeopardize her security: if she was ever foolish enough to do so, and then suffered for it, the backlash against both honest brokers and Palestinians would be immense - 'land for peace' must also bring peace.
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If it's me against 48, I feel sorry for the 48.
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Left-wing zealots have often been prepared to ride roughshod over due process and basic considerations of fairness when they think they can get away with it. For them the ends always seems to justify the means. That is precisely how their predecessors came to create the gulag.
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