“It is an illusion," says Ernest Raymond," that Bishops should be chosen for their scholarship, their administrative ability, their force of will, their social gifts or other more worldly abilities, instead of the one thing needful – their sanctiity.”

Il faut, autant qu'on peut, obliger tout le monde:
On a souvent besoin d'un plus petit que soi.
Book II (1668), fable 11.
Fables (1668–1679)
Variant: One often has need of one inferior to himself.

International Herald Tribune (29 October 1991)
Variant translation: If your heart is in the right place and you have good taste, not only will you pass muster in politics, you are destined for it. If you are modest and do not lust after power, not only are you suited to politics, you absolutely belong there.
Context: When a man has his heart in the right place and good taste, he can not only do well in politics but is even predetermined for it. If someone is modest and does not yearn for power, he is certainly not ill-equipped to engage in politics; on the contrary, he belongs there. What is needed in politics is not the ability to lie but rather the sensibility to know when, where, how and to whom to say things.

Source: Philosophy: Who Needs It

Attributed in How to Win Friends and Influence People (1937) by Dale Carnegie

Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow

Source: Lumina and New Lumina (1969), p. 45

review of The Flying Sorcerers by David Gerrold and Larry Niven http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/exhibit-a, 2016
2010s

Source: House Harkonnen

Variant: Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.
Source: Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook: Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-1990