--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I applaud strong government, but not…" description: "\"I applaud strong government, but not overweening government sustained by cronies, ciphers and a personality cult.\" — Margaret Thatcher" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg" --- # I applaud strong government, but not overweening… ![“I applaud strong government, but not overweening government sustained by cronies, ciphers and a personality cult.” quote by Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg) > “I applaud strong government, but not overweening government sustained by cronies, ciphers and a personality cult.” [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates limited government, warning against cronyism and personality cults. **In simple terms:** Support limited government, avoid cronyism. Key Takeaway Guard against power concentration. Themes government corruption leadership Mood cautious critical Type political analytical When to use this quote - policy making - public administration - voting decisions - activism Key Concepts political theory ethics power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure accountability in leadership? - What safeguards prevent cronyism? A Different Perspective Power can become corrupt when unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Applaud Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/applaud-strong-3586745/) [Ciphers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ciphers/) [Cronies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cronies/) [Cult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cult/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Overweening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-overweening-3586744/) [Government Sustained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-sustained-3586742/) [Overweening Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overweening-government-3586743/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong/) [Strong government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-government/) ## Related quotes > [Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity you must be respectable; even to observe neutrality you must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/unless-your-government-is-respectable-foreigners-will-invade-your/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Ideology trumps rationality. Most conservatives cannot abide the solution to global warming - strong government regulations and a government-led effort to accelerate clean-energy technologies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/ideology-trumps-rationality-most-conservatives-cannot-abide-the/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [This truth may be unfashionable, unpalatable, no doubt unpopular, but, if it is the truth, the story of mankind shows that war was universal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/this-truth-may-be-unfashionable-unpalatable-no-doubt-unpopular-but-if/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The best reason why Monarchy is a strong government is, that it is an intelligible government. The mass of mankind understand it, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-bagehot/the-best-reason-why-monarchy-is-a-strong-government-is-that-it-is-an/) [Walter Bagehot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-bagehot/) > [We have a strong government and are a nuclear state. Even if our government was completely destroyed, our nuclear missiles would be automatically deployed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramzan-kadyrov/we-have-a-strong-government-and-are-a-nuclear-state-even-if-our/) [Ramzan Kadyrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramzan-kadyrov/) > [Taxes are the source of life for the bureaucracy, the army and the court, in short, for the whole apparatus of the executive power.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/taxes-are-the-source-of-life-for-the-bureaucracy-the-army-and-the/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/we-don-t-need-a-weakened-government-but-a-strong-government-that/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/even-to-observe-neutrality-you-must-have-a-strong-government/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [You can have a strong government and a weak people, or strong people and weak government, but you cannot have both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ringer/you-can-have-a-strong-government-and-a-weak-people-or-strong-people/) [Robert Ringer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ringer/) > [However, even a strong government can't perform miracles. It needs money from the taxpayers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/however-even-a-strong-government-can-t-perform-miracles-it-needs/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [The tendency of all strong governments has always been to suppress liberty, partly in order to ease the processes of rule, partly from sheer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-hobson/the-tendency-of-all-strong-governments-has-always-been-to-suppress/) [John A. Hobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-hobson/) > [A strong government is where the will of the people matters, where the voice of the people is heard and where the dreams of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/a-strong-government-is-where-the-will-of-the-people-matters-where-the/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Just when we need a strong government, what do we see? Division. Chaos. And failure. No credible plan for Brexit, no solution to prevent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keir-starmer/just-when-we-need-a-strong-government-what-do-we-see-division-chaos/) [Keir Starmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keir-starmer/) > [Strong government doesn't mean simply military power or an efficient intelligence apparatus. Instead, it should mean effective, fair administration - in other words, 'good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghuram-rajan/strong-government-doesn-t-mean-simply-military-power-or-an-efficient/) [Raghuram Rajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghuram-rajan/) > [The world can never be in the state of right order, strong government, and good influence unless London is truly and literally established as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/the-world-can-never-be-in-the-state-of-right-order-strong-government/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) ## More by Margaret Thatcher > [When you stop a dictator, there are always risks. But there are greater risks in not stopping a dictator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/when-you-stop-a-dictator-there-are-always-risks-but-there-are-greater/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Ideally, when Christians meet, as Christians do, to take counsel together, their purpose is not ( or should not be) to ascertain what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/ideally-when-christians-meet-as-christians-do-to-take-counsel/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-are-dangers-in-consensus-it-could-be-an-attempt-to-satisfy/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [If it's me against 48, I feel sorry for the 48.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/if-it-s-me-against-48-i-feel-sorry-for-the-48/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [ \[When asked how it felt to be a female prime minister:\] I don't know: I've never experienced the alternative. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/when-asked-how-it-felt-to-be-a-female-prime-minister-i-don-t-know-i/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [It is sometimes said that because of our past we, as a people, expect too much and set our sights too high. That is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/it-is-sometimes-said-that-because-of-our-past-we-as-a-people-expect/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Unless we change our ways and our direction, our greatness as a nation will soon be a footnote in the history books, a distant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/unless-we-change-our-ways-and-our-direction-our-greatness-as-a-nation/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [I don't think any woman in power really has a happy life unless she's got a large number of women friends ... because you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/i-don-t-think-any-woman-in-power-really-has-a-happy-life-unless-she-s/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [People from my sort of background needed grammar schools to compete with children from privileged homes like Shirley Williams and Anthony Wedgwood Benn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/people-from-my-sort-of-background-needed-grammar-schools-to-compete/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/what-is-success-i-think-it-is-a-mixture-of-having-a-flair-for-the/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Personal virtue is no substitute for political hard-headedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/personal-virtue-is-no-substitute-for-political-hard-headedness/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [The Government wants a peaceful settlement. But we totally reject a peaceful sell-out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/the-government-wants-a-peaceful-settlement-but-we-totally-reject-a/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [We have made too much of one or two people, and we think that they can win or lose elections for us. Don't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/we-have-made-too-much-of-one-or-two-people-and-we-think-that-they-can/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [I pay tribute to John Major's achievement in persuading the other 11 Community Heads of Government that they could move ahead to a Social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/i-pay-tribute-to-john-major-s-achievement-in-persuading-the-other-11/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) [Explore all 539 Margaret Thatcher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) ## More Ciphers quotes > [These are the men who, without virtue, labour, or hazard, are growing rich, as their country is impoverished; they rejoice, when obstinacy or ambition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/these-are-the-men-who-without-virtue-labour-or-hazard-are-growing/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The introduction of the cipher 0 or the group concept was general nonsense too, and mathematics was more or less stagnating for thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-grothendieck/the-introduction-of-the-cipher-0-or-the-group-concept-was-general/) [Alexander Grothendieck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-grothendieck/) > [Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to cipher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-collodi/today-at-school-i-will-learn-to-read-at-once-then-tomorrow-i-will/) [Carlo Collodi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-collodi/) > [It may come as a surprise to many that there are ciphers (coded messages indicated by a letter or group of letters) in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-missler/it-may-come-as-a-surprise-to-many-that-there-are-ciphers-coded/) [Chuck Missler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-missler/) > [Twin primes: pairs of prime numbers that are close to each other, almost neighbors, but between them there is always an even number that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-giordano/twin-primes-pairs-of-prime-numbers-that-are-close-to-each-other/) [Paolo Giordano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-giordano/) > [Thou seekest disciples? Then thou seekest ciphers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/thou-seekest-disciples-then-thou-seekest-ciphers/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [An enormous amount of scientific language is metaphorical. We talk about a genetic code, where code originally meant a cipher; we talk about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/an-enormous-amount-of-scientific-language-is-metaphorical-we-talk/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [You are not going to know the meaning of God or prayer unless you reduce yourself to a cipher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/you-are-not-going-to-know-the-meaning-of-god-or-prayer-unless-you/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [A man can't retire his experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-baruch/a-man-can-t-retire-his-experience/) [Bernard Baruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-baruch/) > [We write our lives indeed, But in a cipher none can read, Except the author](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-ridley-havergal/we-write-our-lives-indeed-but-in-a-cipher-none-can-read-except-the/) [Frances Ridley Havergal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-ridley-havergal/) > [All the great enterprises of the world are run by a few smart men: their aides and associates run down by rapid stages to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/all-the-great-enterprises-of-the-world-are-run-by-a-few-smart-men/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Poetry is the cipher key to the five mystic wishes packed in a hollow silver bullet fed to a flying fish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/poetry-is-the-cipher-key-to-the-five-mystic-wishes-packed-in-a-hollow/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [ART, n. This word has no definition. Its origin is related by the ingenious Father Gassalasca Jape as "One day a wag - what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/art-n-this-word-has-no-definition-its-origin-is-related-by-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Nos numeros sumus et fruges consumere nati. We are but ciphers, born to consume earth's fruits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/nos-numeros-sumus-et-fruges-consumere-nati-we-are-but-ciphers-born-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [The American father is never seen in London. He passes his life entirely in Wall Street and communicates with his family once a month…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-american-father-is-never-seen-in-london-he-passes-his-life/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Browse all 51 Ciphers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ciphers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I applaud strong government, but not overweening government sustained by cronies, ciphers and a personality cult.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Thatcher" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-overweening-government-sustained/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ciphers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-overweening-government-sustained/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/473/margaret-thatcher-463_ciphers_i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-over_399623.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I applaud strong government, but not overweening government sustained by cronies, ciphers and a personality…” — Margaret Thatcher", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Margaret Thatcher", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I applaud strong government, but not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-overweening-government-sustained/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/i-applaud-strong-government-but-not-overweening-government-sustained/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```