Crimenutely. It’s been almost half-a-century. On this day, February 11, 1975, Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher was elected, at the age of 48, the leader of the British Conservative Party. Four years later, she became Europe’s first woman Prime Minister. And the mark she left endures to this day. Some of Maggie’s gems:
“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” — Margaret Thatcher
Other than observing that, of course, this trenchant observation can be applied to a wide variety of arguments beyond the stated one (I usually substitute either the word “rational,” or the word “thoughtful,” or the word “sane,” for the word “political” when I say it to myself), I don’t think I can improve upon it, or that it needs further clarification or explanation.
I think it’s my favorite quote of hers.
But. Perhaps not. Because, there is this:
Or this:
Or this:
God. I miss Maggie. Love her or hate her, she had a way with words. And, as far as I know, she never uttered the “MF” word, the “B” word, or the “P” word, all of which have become part of the daily parlance of twenty-first century politics, in the United States, at least.
Talk about being spoiled for choice.
Now I don’t know what my favorite Attila the Hen quote is. Help me out, please?
