Thatcher in her own words
Some of the most famous - well as the lesser known - quotations Baroness Thatcher has made over the years, many of them in formal speeches.
- "I am not hard - I'm frightfully soft. But I will not be hounded" - Interview, 1972.
- "It will be years - and not in my time - before a woman will lead the party or become Prime Minister" - Speech, 1974.
- "I stand before you tonight in my green chiffon evening gown, my face softly made up, my fair hair gently waved. The Iron Lady of the Western World? Me? A Cold War warrior? Well, yes - if that is how they wish to interpret my defence of values and freedoms fundamental to our way of life" - Speech in 1976 after the Kremlin dubbed her the Iron Lady.
- "Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country" - Election campaign, 1979.
- "No-one would have remembered the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions. He had money as well" - Television interview, 1980.
- "A crime is a crime is a crime" - News conference in Saudi Arabia, 1981, rejecting any view that there could be political reasons for IRA terrorism.
- "We knew what we had to do and we went about it and did it. Great Britain is great again" - Comment at end of Falklands conflict.
- "In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman" - Speech 1982.
- "I am painted as the greatest little dictator, which is ridiculous - you always take some consultations" - Interview, 1983.
- "This is a day I was not meant to see" - the Sunday following the Brighton bomb which occurred during a Troy conference in 1984.
- "I think, historically, the term `Thatcherism' will be seen as a compliment" - Speech, 1985.
- "I don't mind how much my ministers talk, as long as they do what I say" - Interview, 1987.
- "I think I have become a bit of an institution - you know the sort of thing people expect to see around the place" - Speech, 1987.
- "It's a funny old world" - Comment after her decision to quit in November 1990, pointing out that she had never lost an election in her life, yet had been forced to stand down.
- "The Mummy returns" - During the 2001 General Election, after passing a poster publicising a film of that name.
PA
