Leadership quotes
A collection of quotes on the topic of motivational, business, leadership, deep.
Best leadership quotes
“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Source: You Learn by Living (1960), p. 29–30
Context: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Ian Maclaren (1850–1907) British theologian and writer
The British Weekly, 1897. http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/29/be-kind/ <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
Laozi in the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 64
Misattributed, Chinese
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
Variant: Look Toward the stars but keep your feet firmly on the ground.
Source: The Greatest American President: The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt
“The price of greatness is responsibility.”
Winston S. Churchill book The Second World War
In the House of Commons, February 28, 1906 speech South African native races http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1906/feb/28/south-african-native-races#S4V0152P0_19060228_HOC_307 <br class="br">The Second World War (1939–1945) <br class="br">Variant: Where there is great power there is great responsibility <br class="br">Context: I submit respectfully to the House as a general principle that our responsibility in this matter is directly proportionate to our power. Where there is great power there is great responsibility, where there is less power there is less responsibility, and where there is no power there can, I think, be no responsibility.
Leadership quotes
“Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
As quoted by LIFE magazine (2 May 1955)
1950s
Variant: Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Variant: A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian writer
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
Henry Ford (1863–1947) American industrialist
Variant: Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author
Preface to Transit of Venus: Poems by Harry Crosby (1931)
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman
Variant: Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
Victor Hugo book Things Seen
Often attributed to Churchill, this thought was originally expressed by the French author Victor Hugo in Villemain (1845), as follows: You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.
Villemain is a brief segment taken from Hugo’s Choses Vues (Things Seen), a running journal Hugo kept of events he witnessed. The original French versions of these journals were published after Hugo's death.
Misattributed
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”
Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant
“Whenever you get there, there is no there there.”
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American art collector and experimental writer of novels, poetry and plays
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Dolly Parton (1946) American singer-songwriter and actress
Variant: If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.
John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) American politician, 6th president of the United States (in office from 1825 to 1829)
“Don't follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.”
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
Alexander the Great (-356–-323 BC) King of Macedon
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German writer, artist, and politician
“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
Karl Popper (1902–1994) Austrian-British philosopher of science
Colin Powell in My American Journey (1995)
Misattributed
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Source: You Learn by Living (1960), p. 29–30
Context: You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." … You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Statement of advice on being presented the Radcliffe Medal, as quoted in "Honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg" by Colleen Walsh, in The Harvard Gazette (29 May 2015) https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/05/honoring-ruth-bader-ginsburg/ <br class="br">2010s
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)
“Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach
Variant: Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Attributed to Winston Churchill in The Prodigal Project : Book I : Genesis (2003) by Ken Abraham and Daniel Hart, p. 224 and other places, though no source attribution is given. It actually derives from an advertising campaign for Budweiser beer in the late 1930s.
Misattributed
Variant: Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/03/success-final/
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)
As quoted in The Federal Career Service: A Look Ahead (1954)
1950s
Variant: Now I think, speaking roughly, by leadership we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
“The real leader has no need to lead. He is content to point the way.”
Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist
Source: The Wisdom of the Heart (1941), p. 46
“People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
Variant: No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Source: The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989), p. 101
“When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker
“If there is a good will, there is great way.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American New Thought author
Actually said by Napoleon Hill, Stone later added the line "...with P.M.A." (Positive Mental Attitude) to the end of this quote.
Misattributed
Variant: Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
Seth Godin (1960) American entrepreneur, author and public speaker
Source: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
Context: It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.
Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant
Variant: There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
Henry Adams (1838–1918) journalist, historian, academic, novelist
The Education of Henry Adams (1907)
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt without an original source in her writings, for example in the introduction to It Seems to Me : Selected Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt (2001) by Leonard C. Schlup and Donald W. Whisenhunt, p. 2 http://books.google.com/books?id=UeFWjTMcLZYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false. But archivists have not been able to find the quote in any of her writings, see the comment from Ralph Keyes in The Quote Verifier above. <br class="br">Disputed
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”
Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Plato (-427–-347 BC) Classical Greek philosopher
Attributed to Plato in No Ordinary Moments: A Peaceful Warrior's Guide to Daily Life (1992) by Dan Millman. It has also been wrongly attributed to Philo. It is a variant of the Christmas message "Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle," written by the Scottish preacher Ian Maclaren (also known as John Watson) in 1897. <br class="br"> Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle. Plato? Philo of Alexandria? http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/06/29/be-kind/ <br class="br">Misattributed
“He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command”
Niccolo Machiavelli book The Prince
Source: The Prince
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
Bill Gates (1955) American business magnate and philanthropist
“The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”
William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist
Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker
As quoted in Teaching Sport and Physical Activity : Insights on the Road to Excellence (2003) Paul G. Schempp, p. 79
“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old”
Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant
“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”
Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.”
Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author
p.32 -->
Variant: Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
Source: Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice
“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.”
Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
Alice Walker (1944) American author and activist
As quoted in The Best Liberal Quotes Ever : Why the Left is Right (2004) by William P. Martin, p. 173.
“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.”
John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor
“Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way”
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
“Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”
Jean Paul Sartre (1905–1980) French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and …
Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
No published occurrence of such an attribution has yet been located prior to one in Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre — Band 3 http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2411/pg2411.html by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe <br class="br">Disputed <br class="br">Variant: Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.
“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
“My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist
"Helen and Teacher: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy", Joseph P. Lash (1980) http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/04/21/together/
“One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Foreword (January 1960)
You Learn by Living (1960)
Context: One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In stopping to think through the meaning of what I have learned, there is much that I believe intensely, much I am unsure of. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
Peter F. Drucker book The Essential Drucker
Misattributed
Variant: Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.
Source: The Essential Drucker
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
Widely attributed to Lincoln, this appears to be derived from Thomas Carlyle's general comment below, but there are similar quotes about Lincoln in his biographies. <br class="br">Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity. <br class="br">Thomas Carlyle (1841) On Heroes and Hero Worship. <br class="br">Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity. <br class="br">Horatio Alger (1883), Abraham Lincoln: The Backwoods Boy; or, How a Young Rail-Splitter became President <br class="br">Most people can bear adversity; but if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never used it except on the side of mercy. <br class="br">Robert G. Ingersoll (1883), Unity: Freedom, Fellowship and Character in Religion, Volume 11, Number 3, The Exchange Table, True Greatness Exemplified in Abraham Lincoln, by Robert G. Ingersoll (excerpt), Quote Page 55, Column 1 and 2, Chicago, Illinois. ( Google Books Full View https://books.google.com/books?id=JUIrAAAAYAAJ&q=%22man+really%22#v=snippet&) <br class="br">If you want to discover just what there is in a man — give him power. <br class="br">Francis Trevelyan Miller (1910), Portrait Life of Lincoln: Life of Abraham Lincoln, the Greatest American <br class="br">Any man can handle adversity. If you truly want to test a man's character, give him power. <br class="br">Attributed in the electronic game Infamous <br class="br">Misattributed
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Kurt Vonnegut book Mother Night
Introduction (1966)
Sometimes misquoted as: Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be.
Mother Night (1961)
“Wisdom is knowing what to do next. Virtue is doing it.”
David Starr Jordan (1851–1931) American ichthyologist and educator
"Ideals of Stanford", by President David Starr Jordan, in The Land of Sunshine: A Southern California Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 1. (Los Angeles, June 1898), p. 11
Variant: "Wisdom is knowing what to do next; Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it."
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) English trader, writer and journalist
The Life and Adventures of http://books.google.com/books?id=IZ9CAAAAYAAJ&q=%22better+to+have+a+Lyon+at+the+Head%22+%22an+Army+of+Sheep+than+a+Sheep+at+the+Head%22+%22an+Army+of+Lyons%22&pg=PA33#v=onepage Mrs. Christian Davies (1741)
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
Matka Tereza (1910–1997) Roman Catholic saint of Albanian origin
Mary Alice Warner, Dayna Beilenson (1987) Women of faith and spirit: their words & thoughts, p. 42
1980s
“These are images of what love is about.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) Indian writer
"How Happiness Happpens", p. 61
Awareness (1992)
Context: Is it possible for the rose to say, "I will give my fragrance to the good people who smell me, but I will withhold it from the bad?" Or is it possible for the lamp to say, "I will give my light to the good people in this room, but I will withhold it from the evil people"? Or can a tree say, "I'll give my shade to the good people who rest under me, but I will withhold it from the bad"? These are images of what love is about.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
George S. Patton: "Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way", as quoted in Pocket Patriot: Quotes from American Heroes (2005) edited by Kelly Nickell, p. 157
Misattributed
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Laozi (-604) semi-legendary Chinese figure, attributed to the 6th century, regarded as the author of the Tao Te Ching and fou…
“Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men -- the other 999 follow women.”
Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American politician, 28th president of the United States (in office from 1913 to 1921)
“Ideals of College” http://books.google.com/books?id=_VYEIml1cAkC&pg=PA15&dq=%22You+are+not+here+merely%22, Swarthmore (25 October 1913)<!--PWW 28:439-442--> <br class="br">1910s <br class="br">Context: You are not here merely to prepare to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.
“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
Statement of January 1991, as quoted in Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett (2007) by Andrew Kilpatrick
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American author and poet
"Will," included in Maurine: And Other Poems, p. 145 (1888). Often quoted by Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji.
Poetry quotes, New Thought Pastels (1913)
Context: There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”
Andy Warhol (1928–1987) American artist
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) American economist and diplomat
Source: The Age of Uncertainty (1977), Chapter 12, p. 330
“There are two ways of spreading light.. to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
“All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.”
Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet
Letter to J. G. Lockhart (c. 16 June 1830), in H. J. C. Grierson (ed.), Letters of Sir Walter Scott, Vol. II (1936), as reported in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1999), p. 652
“It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer
“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great”
John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) American business magnate and philanthropist
Earliest citation found in Google Books is from 1993 https://books.google.com/books?id=bdTko5oHTd4C&pg=PA25&dq=%22give+up+the+good+to+go+for+the+great%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH2e_QivXLAhUps4MKHdf0A9wQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22give%20up%20the%20good%20to%20go%20for%20the%20great%22&f=false, where it is attributed to country-music singer Kenny Rogers. Not found attributed to Rockefeller until 2006 https://books.google.com/books?id=F7OGT9WTiPQC&pg=PA24&dq=%22give+up+the+good%22+%22go+for+the+great%22+rockefeller&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw_rb9ivXLAhXrmoMKHbgHBqkQ6wEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=%22give%20up%20the%20good%22%20%22go%20for%20the%20great%22%20rockefeller&f=false. <br class="br">Disputed <br class="br">Variant: Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be
The candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
Edith Wharton (1862–1937) American novelist, short story writer, designer
"Vesalius in Zante (1564)", in North American Review (November 1902), p. 631
Variant: There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that receives it.
Earl Nightingale (1921–1989) American motivational speaker
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor
“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform a million realities.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
Source: Poems
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Attribution debunked in Langworth's Churchill by Himself. The earliest close match located by the Quote Investigator is from the 1953 book How to Say a Few Words by David Guy Powers. <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. <br class="br">Source: 1953, How to Say a Few Words by David Guy Powers, Quote p. 109, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York. Referenced by Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/28/success