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Quotes about leadership

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One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes.
Eleanor Roosevelt1884–1962You Learn by Living (1960), Foreword
- Decisions
- Philosophy
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919
- Decisions
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
Although too much of a soldier among sovereigns, no one could claim with better right to be a sovereign among soldiers.
Walter Scott1771–1832Life of Napoleon (1827).
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Henry IV, Part 2 (1597-8), Act III, scene i.
- Power
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
There’s small choice in rotten apples.
William Shakespeare1564–1616The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1591), Act I, Scene I, spoken by HortensioIn context
- Decisions
What evils are not wrought by Anarchy!
She ruins States, and overthrows the home,
She dissipates and routs the embattled host;
While discipline preserves the ordered ranks.
Sophocles496–406 BCAntigone (c. 441 BC), spoken by CreonIn context
- Government
Decisions are made by those who show up.
Aaron Sorkinborn 1961Commencement speech at Syracuse University on May 13, 2012.
- Decisions
Every age needs men who will redeem the time by living with a vision of the things that are to be.
Adlai Stevenson II1900–1965What I Think (1956), p. 142
What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us — what convictions, what courage, what faith — win or lose.
Adlai Stevenson II1900–1965Address to the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois. (21 July 1952); published in Speeches of Adlai Stevenson (1952) p. 17
It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.
PSPublilius Syrus101–101 BCSentences, Maxim 469
- Change
- Decisions