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

The line distills a political temperament often associated with Thatcher: tactical patience paired with strategic inflexibility. It suggests a willingness to endure delay, negotiation, or incremental steps so long as the ultimate outcome aligns with her objectives. The apparent paradox—patience conditioned on victory—highlights a style of leadership that treats compromise as provisional and time as a tool. Read this way, the quote frames persistence not as passive waiting but as disciplined endurance in pursuit of a predetermined end, implying that steadfastness and control of the final result matter more than the route taken to reach it.