"I don't think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime."

(Thatcher on BBC television, March 1973)

"If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

(Attributed)

"You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."

(Thatcher holds her ground on her criticized economic policies, October 1980)

"I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together."

(Thatcher speaks to the BBC after meeting Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1984)

"We have become a grandmother."

(Thatcher announces the birth of her first grandchild, March 1989)

"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope. There is now work to be done."

(Thatcher quotes Saint Francis of Assisi and recently murdered Conservative member of parliament Airey Neave on her first day in Downing Street, May 1979)

Agence france-presse

(China Daily 04/09/2013 page12)