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Quotes about leadership

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I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm.
Elizabeth I of England1533–1603Speech to the Troops at Tilbury (1588)
- Courage
- Women
Though God hath raised me high, yet this I count the glory of my Crown, that I have reigned with your loves.
Elizabeth I of England1533–1603The Golden Speech (1601)
- Love
I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family, to which we all belong.
Elizabeth II1926–2022Broadcast on her 21st birthday, from Cape Town (21 April 1947)
- Responsibility
To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.
Margaret Thatcher1925–2013Speech to the Conservative Party Conference, Brighton (10 October 1980)
- Decisions
- Politics
Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects.
Elizabeth I of England1533–1603Speech to the Troops at Tilbury (1588)
- Courage
There is no jewel, be it of never so rich a price, which I set before this jewel: I mean your love.
Elizabeth I of England1533–1603The Golden Speech (1601)
- Love
A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb: “Speak softly and carry a big stick⁠—you will go far.” If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919National Duties (Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick) (1901)
- Power
- Wisdom
I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself:
“All right, then, I’ll go to hell”
Mark Twain1835–1910Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Chapter XXXIIn context
- Decisions
- Morality
Always to be right, always to trample forward, and never to doubt, are not these the great qualities with which dullness takes the lead in the world?
William Makepeace Thackeray1811–1863Vanity Fair (1848), Chapter XXXVIn context
- Character
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Macbeth (c. 1606), Act I, Scene VII, spoken by MacbethIn context
- Decisions
Now does he feel his title
Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Macbeth (c. 1606), Act V, Scene II, spoken by AngusIn context
- Power
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Julius Caesar (1599), Act IV, Scene III, spoken by BrutusIn context
- Decisions
- Luck
The King’s name is a tower of strength
Which they upon the adverse faction want.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Richard III (c. 1593), Act V, Scene III, spoken by King RichardIn context
- Power
Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils,⁠—nor the human race, as I believe
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic (c. 375 BC), Book VIn context
- Government
- Philosophy
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.
Niccolò Machiavelli1469–1527The Prince (1532), Chapter VIIn context
- Change