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

The line frames political and personal struggle as iterative rather than decisive: victory often requires persistence through setbacks, repeated campaigns, and renewed argument. In Thatcher’s idiom, “battle” can be read both literally (conflict) and metaphorically (policy fights, elections, reforms). The emphasis is on stamina and resolve—success is not guaranteed by a single effort, and defeat in one round does not invalidate the cause. The aphorism also implies a strategic realism: opponents, institutions, and circumstances may force advocates to return to the same contested ground until conditions align for a durable win.