“The head of a free nation's government must direct towards obscure and shifting objectives the actions of a group of people who are not compelled to obey him by anything except the fear of anarchy, which fear does not exist in times f social peace. He can do nothing without being criticized by opponents whose desire to put someone in his place makes them the more pitiless. His lieutenants are not respectful assistants; they are his equals and his eventual successors.”

—  André Maurois

Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Leadership

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André Maurois 202
French writer 1885–1967

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