My Douzey-Dozen Baroness Thatcher Quotes

RIP Baroness Thatcher 1925 – 2013

Mrs Thatcher was probably one of the most divisive prime ministers in the 20th century.

Whilst she did do some things that I never agreed with I thought she took a country that was on it’s knees through years of weak government, union torment, poor business management and a criminal lack of investment and completely turned it round. I remember those pre-Thatcher days and they were truly awful.

She was a commitment not a focus-group politician who did what she believed in, always put Britain first and took on the male establishment and beat it. Say what you will but she was a truly remarkable person hence the state funeral (or as close as a commoner can get) and the world-wide plaudits.

I was born in a council prefab (we couldn’t even get a council house), went to a secondary modern school and had no access to family money or influence. Success didn’t come easy for me but much of what I have achieved was made possible because of the Britain Mrs Thatcher created. For that I am truly grateful.

Anyway, to celebrate the great lady here are my douzey-dozen Baroness Thatcher quotes – enjoy.

1. Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
2. If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.
3. I love argument. I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me – that’s not their job
4. If you want to cut your own throat, don’t come to me for a bandage.
5. 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. The lady’s not for turning
6. Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money. 
7. Pennies don’t fall from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth.
8. I came to office with one deliberate intent: to change Britain from a dependent to a self-reliant society — from a give-it-to-me, to a do-it-yourself nation. A get-up-and-go, instead of a sit-back-and-wait-for-it Britain.
9. There’s no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families
10. I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end
11. Defeat? I do not recognise the meaning of the word
12. My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.

Late in her life I was lucky enough to find myself in the same place as her. Long after her prime and despite her illness her charisma and power seeped from every pore.

RIP Margaret Thatcher.

Top 10 Winston Churchill Quotes

Victory? No, two whiskey and sodas please.

Mr Churchill has hundreds of quotations attributed to him some of which he actually said but I have tried to select a few of the less well known ones that I think resonate in today’s business world. Enjoy!

1. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
2. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
3. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
4. Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.
5. Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.
6. Never, never, never give up.
7. However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
8. I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
9. It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
10. Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.

He also said that uneducated men should read books of quotations which I disagree with: I think everybody should read them whether they are educated or not!

My Top 10 Helen Keller Quotations

Helen Keller was born blind and deaf  and yet she overcame these extreme difficulties to produce some truly astounding work. Here are my favourite 10 of her many quotations: -

1. Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
2. No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.
3. No one has a right to consume happiness without producing it.
4. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.
5. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
6. Life is either a great adventure or nothing.
7. I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
8. Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.
9. People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.
10. It is hard to interest those who have everything in those who have nothing.

Learn more about Helen Keller here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller.

 

 

Business Quotations

I just love quotations. I find them inspiring and quite fascinating: sort of old fashioned tweets. Anyway here is another 10 of my favourites: -

1. When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
   John F. Kennedy  

2. If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.
   Abraham Lincoln  

3. The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.
   Jawaharlal Nehru  

4. The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.
   Linus Pauling  

5. You can accomplish much if you don’t care who gets the credit.
   Ronald Reagan  

6. The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do.
   Roy L. Smith  

7. Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.
   Mark Twain  

8. Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; it is better to be alone than in bad company.
   George Washington  

9. The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer.
   Thomas J. Watson  

10. Business is like riding a bicycle. Either you keep moving or you fall down.
    John D. Wright

As for my personal favourite after a long mull over I am going for Big Blue’s very own Thomas J. Watson. When I was in IT it applied, when I ran a business it was also very true and yet it applies even more these day when I am in selling mode or coaching like a good ‘un.

10 Great Quotations to Start the Week

I thought I might start the week with a few inspiring quotations. Here we go then: -

1. The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.  Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends. Jawaharlal Nehru
3. That must be wonderful; I have no idea of what it means. Moliere
4. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Benjamin Franklin
5. Things don’t turn up in this world until somebody turns them up. James A. Garfield
6. If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.  Lucille Ball
7. It’s not enough to be busy. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau
8. If you get all the facts, your judgment can be right; if you don’t get all the facts, it can’t be right. Bernard M. Baruch
9. It is no use saying, ‘We are doing our best.’ You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary. Winston Churchill
10. Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.  Winston Churchill

That last quote by Winston Churchill is my absolute favourite.

Have a great week!