Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher (1925 - ), was the first woman to be elected Prime Minister in the history of Europe. She was elected to the House of Commons in 1959, elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, became Prime Minister in 1979, and went on to become the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century.

1. I'm extraordinarily patient provided I get my own way in the end.

2. I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.

3. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

4. 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. - London Daily Telegraph, 3/21/86

5. I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.

6. Pennies do not come from heaven--they have to be earned here on earth.

7. If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.

8. To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best. - from an interview with Barbara Walters, 3/18/87

9. In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman. - from People Magazine, 9/15/75

10. You don't tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.

Harry s. Truman

Truman (1884-1972), born in Lamar, Missouri, was a captain in World War I, a judge, a senator, vice president, and, following the death of Franklin Roosevelt, the 33rd US president. He was known for his stong basic values, his no-nonsense attitude, and his plain speaking. While Truman received rough treatment from his critics while in office, hhe is one of the most admired past presidents. Among his accomplishments were bringing the second World War to a swift conclusion, helping to establish NATO and the UN, and implementing the Marshall Plan for economic recovery in Europe after the war.

1. The buck stops here.

2. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

3. Study men, not historians.

4. Being too good is apt to be uninterresting.

5. I always considered statesmen to be more expendable than soldiers.

6. If I'd known how much packing I'd have to do, I'd have run again. - on leaving the White House, from Time Magazine, 1/26/53

7. Any man who has had the job I've had and didn't have a sense of humor wouldn't still be here.

8. We must have strong minds, ready to accept facts as they are.

9. Some of the presidents were great and some of them weren't. I can say that, because I wasn't one of the great presidents, but I had a good time trying to be one, I can tell you that.

10. If you can't convince them, confuse them.

11. A politician is a man who understands government and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead for fifteen years.

12. I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

13. It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own.

14. I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Toombstone, Arizona. It says: "Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest." I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have.