Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
- Publilius SyrusLeadership
Almost everything written about leadership today repeats one old question: does it come from example or from position. History's answer is fairly monotonous. The people we remember as leaders rarely called themselves that, and those who insisted on the title are mostly forgotten. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor, and filled his notebooks with reminders not to become arrogant.
Quotes about leadership therefore tend to sound like quotes about character. They talk about listening, about absorbing responsibility for other people's mistakes, about trust being built slowly and spent quickly. Few address technique, and almost none worth keeping promise that leading is pleasant. That is probably the most reliable quality test in this theme.
I attribute my success to this — I never gave or took any excuse.
- Florence NightingaleCharacter is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
- Abraham LincolnIf you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.
- Booker T. WashingtonAlways do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
- Mark TwainThe voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
- Friedrich SchillerCorrection does much, but encouragement does more.
- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheA leader is best when people barely know he exists.
- Lao TzuThe superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
- ConfuciusIn the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.
- Sun TzuA leader is a dealer in hope.
- Napoleon BonaparteIf you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
- African ProverbComing together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
- Henry FordThe whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
- AristotleThe greatest victory is that which requires no battle.
- Sun TzuAlone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
- Helen KellerRaise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
- RumiUnited we stand, divided we fall.
- AesopThere is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.
- Leo TolstoyPeace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
- Albert Einstein