One of the world’s greatest leaders died Monday, April 8, 2013. The “Iron Lady”, former British Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, died of a stroke at age 87.. Her passing reminds us just how devoid our time is of real leaders. Rather our politicians are appeasers who throw money at the masses to get re-elected. No room for principles today.

Following are some of the Prime Minister’s best quotes. My favorites are at the top.

“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

“To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukemia with leeches.”

“To me, consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is something in which no one believes and to which no one objects.”

“There is no such thing as Society. There are individual men and women, and there are families.”

“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.”

“We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state.”

“Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”

“I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air.”

“I am not a consensus politician. I’m a conviction politician.”

“Defeat — I do not know the meaning of the word!”

“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”

“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”

“To wear your heart on your sleeve isn’t a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.”

“It is not the creation of wealth that is wrong, but the love of money for its own sake.”

“I’ve got a woman’s ability to stick to a job and get on with it when everyone else walks off and leaves it.”

“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.”

“If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn’t swim.”

“You need quite good shock absorbers and a sense of humor to be the Prime Minister’s child.”

“I don’t mind how much my ministers talk, as long as they do what I say.”