Quotes of all kinds from historical and current thought leaders 1.  "Technology is like fish. The longer it stays on the shelf, the less...   Andrew Heller 2.  ... As we, the leaders, deal with tomorrow, our task is not to try...   Gordon R. Sullivan and Michael V. Harper 3.  [An expert is] someone who knows more and more about less and less   Nicholas Butler 4.  A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take...   Henrik Ibsen 5.  A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while...   John J. Pershing 6.  A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.   Harvey Mackay 7.  A friend is someone who has the same enemies you have   Abraham Lincoln 8.  A friend of mine characterizes leaders simply like this: “Leaders...   Max DePree 9.  A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.   Thomas Carlyle 10.  A leader is a dealer in hope.   Napoleon Bonaparte 11.  A leader is best when people barely know he exists. Not so good...   Lao Tzu 12.  A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance...   Winston Churchill 13.  A little learning is a dangerous thing, but a lot of ignorance is...   Bob Edwards 14.  A minute's success pays the failure of years   Robert Browning 15.  A new leader has to be able to change an organization that is dreamless,...   Warren G. Bennis 16.  A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist...   Winston Churchill 17.  A prime function of a leader is to keep hope alive   John W. Gardner 18.  A Prince should therefore be very careful that nothing ever escapes...   Machiavelli 19.  A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of...   Ernest Bramah 20.  A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates...   Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 21.  A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity.   Baltasar Gracian 22.  A state without the means of some change is without the means of...   Edmund Burke 23.  A true test of leadership is not so much based on how much we know,...   George Shapiro 24.  Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you...   John Wooden 25.  Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the...   William James 26.  Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it...   Doug Larson 27.  Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it   Horace 28.  All is flux, nothing stays the same   Heracletus 29.  All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: the...   John Kenneth Galbraith 30.  All people want to be bound to some cause, commending, yet worthy...   Chester Bernard 31.  All rising to a great place is by a winding stair   Francis Bacon 32.  All serious daring starts from within   Eudora Welty 33.  All you need in life is ignorance and confidence, and then success...   Mark Twain 34.  Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am...   Hugh Prather 35.  An acre of performance is worth the whole world of promise.   Clark Howell 36.  An authentic leader acts in ways which serve to elevate those around...   Sean M. Georges 37.  And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with...   Saint-Exupéry 38.  And when we think we lead, we are most led   Lord Byron 39.  Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the...   Seneca 40.  Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by...   Arnold Bennett 41.  Any company that cannot imagine the future won’t be around to...   Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad 42.  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more...   Albert Einstein 43.  Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right,...   Gen. Peyton C. March 44.  Any successful journey of continual improvement shows five components:...   Robert R. Thompson 45.  Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic   Arthur C. Clarke 46.  Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who...   Henry Ford 47.  Approaching situations like warriors in battle leads to the assumption...   Deborah Tannen 48.  Back of every noble life there are principles that have fashioned...   George H. Lorimer 49.  Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation....   John Wooden 50.  Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness,...   William Shakespeare 51.  Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing   Benjamin Franklin 52.  Be sure you are right, then go ahead   Davy Crockett 53.  Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality...   T. Boone Pickens 54.  Be yourself — who else is better qualified?   Frank J. Giblin II 55.  Behaviour is a mirror in which everyone shows his image.   Goethe 56.  Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall...   Corinthians 57.  Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise   Sigmund Freud 58.  Being listened to and heard is one of the greatest desires of the...   Richard Carlson 59.  Better debate a question without settling it than settle a question...   Joseph Joubert 60.  Beware of the man who had no regard to his own reputation, since...   George Shelley 61.  Big Ideas are so hard to recognize, so fragile, so easy to kill....   John Elliot, Jr. 62.  Build for your team a feeling of oneness, of dependence upon one...   Vince Lombardi 63.  Carpe diem, quam minimus credula postero. Seize today, and put as...   Horace 64.  Chaos often breeds life, while order breeds habit.   Henry Adams 65.  Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to...   Ralph Waldo Emerson 66.  Charisma becomes the undoing of leaders. It makes them inflexible,...   Peter Drucker 67.  Charm is getting the answer yes without asking a clear question.   Albert Camus 68.  Choose a job you like and you will never have to work a day of your...   Confucius 69.  Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working...   Henry Ford 70.  Commitment in the face of challenge produces character.   John C. Maxwell 71.  Common sense is genius dressed up in work clothes.   Ralph Waldo Emerson 72.  Compared to what we ought to be, we are only half awake…The...   William James 73.  Compassion is the basis of all morality   Arthur Schopenhauer 74.  Confrontation doesn't always bring a solution to the problem, but...   James Baldwin 75.  Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen   Winston Churchill 76.  Courage is endurance of the soul   Socrates 77.  Creative leaders find ways of stepping into the shoes of other people...   Gay Hendricks and Kate Ludeman 78.  Creativity at its most basic level is the process of generating many...   Bob King and Helmut Schlicksupp 79.  Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom,...   Alex F. Osborn 80.  Critical thinking is a lived activity, not an abstract academic pastime....   Stephen D. Brookfield 81.  Criticism is easy; achievement is difficult   Winston Churchill 82.  Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not...   William Jennings Bryan 83.  Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who knew me best that...   Abraham Lincoln 84.  Discipline without freedom is tyranny. Freedom without discipline...   Cullen Hightower 85.  Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is...   Muriel Strode 86.  Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped.   African Proverb 87.  Do one thing at time, with supreme excellence   NASA proverb 88.  Do what you can, with what you have, where you are   Theodore Roosevelt 89.  Don’t threaten. I know it’s done by some of our people,...   Charles Pilliod 90.  Don't ask what your community can do for you. Ask what you can do...   Steve Andres 91.  Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If...   Belva Davis 92.  Don't be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can't...   David Lloyd George 93.  Don't count the days, make the days count   Mohammed Ali 94.  Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you...   Robert Louis Stevenson 95.  Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but what you...   John Wooden 96.  Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me,...   Albert Camus 97.  Effective change is not something you do to people. It’s something...   K. Blanchard and T. Waghorn 98.  Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management...   Stephen Covey 99.  Effective leadership is the only competitive advantage that will...   Stephen Covey 100.  Enlightened leadership is service, not selfishness.   John Heider 101.  Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you...   Will Rogers 102.  Eventually relationships determine the size and the length of leadership   John C. Maxwell 103.  Every organization must be prepared to abandon everything it does...   Peter Drucker 104.  Every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized....   Petronius Arbitor 105.  Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have...   Martin Luther King Jr. 106.  Everything that can be counted doesn't necessarily count; everything...   Albert Einstein 107.  Everything you do at work counts   Mike Watkins 108.  Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored   Aldous Huxley 109.  Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led   Warren G. Bennis 110.  Failure is nature's plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.   Napoleon Hill 111.  Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary setbacks   Dottie Walters 112.  Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only...   Horace Greeley 113.  Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,...   Theodore Roosevelt 114.  First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have...   Epictetus 115.  For all your days prepare, and meet them ever alike. When you are...   Edwin Markham 116.  For good or ill, your conversation is your advertisement. Every time...   Bruce Barton 117.  For the self-renewing person, the development of his or her own potentialities...   John Gardner 118.  Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the...   Omar Idn Al-Halif 119.  Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration   Thomas A. Edison 120.  Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving...   William James 121.  Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things,...   Warren G. Bennis and Burt Nanus 122.  Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to...   Lester R. Bittel 123.  Great leaders are never satisfied with current levels of performance....   Donna Harrison 124.  Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself....   Saint Francis de Sales 125.  Have patience, all things are difficult before they become easy   Saadi 126.  He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved...   Elbert Hubbard 127.  He who would eat the fruit must climb the tree   Scottish Proverb 128.  Hell, there are no rules here — we're trying to accomplish something   Thomas A. Edison 129.  Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in...   Benjamin Franklin 130.  However far modern science and technics have fallen short of their...   Lewis Mumford 131.  I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum   Bishop Desmond Tutu 132.  I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending...   Mother Teresa 133.  I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact,...   Winston Churchill 134.  I believe that corporations should be membership communities…...   Charles Handy 135.  I believe that you get greater effectiveness in your work when you...   Richard Barrett 136.  I demand more of myself than anyone else could ever expect   Julius Irving 137.  I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed...   Galileo Galilei 138.  I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying...   Bill Cosby 139.  I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.   Thomas Jefferson 140.  I have often thought that the best way to define a man’s character...   William James 141.  I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the...   Thomas Jefferson 142.  I praise loudly, I blame softly   Catherine the Great 143.  I think most of us are looking for a calling, not a job. Most of...   Studs Terkel 144.  I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting...   Warren G. Bennis 145.  I want to change things. I want to see things happen. I don't want...   John Kenneth Galbraith 146.  I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest   John Keats 147.  I’m a great believer that leadership, in a large part, is moral...   Thorton Bradshaw 148.  Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with...   Carl Schurz 149.  If a man does his best, what else is there   George S. Patton 150.  If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he...   Martin Luther King Jr. 151.  If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn’t thinking   George S. Patton 152.  If I had to sum up in one word what makes a good manager, I’d...   Lee Iacocca 153.  If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million...   Maya Angelou 154.  If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch   Matthew 15:14 155.  If we learn the art of yielding what must be yielded to the changing...   Dean Acheson 156.  If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never...   Robert Schumann 157.  If you act like an ass, don’t get insulted if people ride you   Yiddish Proverb 158.  If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.   Peter Drucker 159.  If you change the ideas in a social system, you change the system...   Gregory Bateson 160.  If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere   Henry Kissinger 161.  If you don't choose to do it in leadership time up front, you do...   Stephen Covey 162.  If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong   Charles Kettering 163.  If you miss seven balls out of ten, you’re batting three hundred...   Walter B. Wriston 164.  If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun   Katharine Hepburn 165.  If you stop learning today, you stop leading tomorrow   Howard Hendricks 166.  If you think you can do a thing or that you cannot do a thing, in...   Henry Ford 167.  If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years...   Chinese Proverb 168.  If you want some ham, you gotta go into the smokehouse   Huey Long 169.  If you want to give a man credit, put it in writing. If you want...   Charles Beacham 170.  If you’re worried about that last at-bat, you’re going...   Tommy Lasorda 171.  I'm their leader, I've got to follow them   Alexandre Ledru-Rollin 172.  In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle,...   Thomas Jefferson 173.  In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships....   Margaret Wheatly 174.  In simplest terms, a leader is one who knows where he wants to go,...   John Erksine 175.  In the conventional mode, people want to know whether the followers...   John W. Gardner 176.  In the knowledge society the most probable assumption for organizations...   Peter Drucker 177.  In war, three quarters turns on personal character and relations;...   Napoleon I 178.  Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors   Thomas Huxley 179.  Is it a fact — or have I dreamt it — that by means of electricity,...   Nathaniel Hawthorne 180.  It does an organization no good when its leader refuses to share...   David Ogilvey 181.  It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying...   Franklin D. Roosevelt 182.  It is always easy to do right when you know ahead of time what you...   Don Meyer 183.  It is always the adventurous who accomplish great things   Montesquieu 184.  It is easier to get forgiveness than it is to secure permission   Jesuit saying 185.  It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed   Theodore Roosevelt 186.  It is important that an aim never be defined in terms of activity...   W. Edwards Deming 187.  It is not the strength, but the duration, of great sentiments that...   Friedrich Nietzsche 188.  It is not what they take away from you that counts. It's what you...   Hubert Humphrey 189.  It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected...   John Steinbeck 190.  It is the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not to skin...   Latin Proverb 191.  It is time to stop paving the cow paths... we should obliterate them...   Michael Hammer 192.  It is understanding that gives us an ability to have peace. When...   Harry Truman 193.  It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive...   Robert H. Schuller 194.  It was not so very long ago that people thought that semiconductors...   Geraldine Ferraro 195.  It’s important that people know what you stand for. It’s...   Mary Waldrop 196.  It's amazing how many cares disappear when you decide not to be something,...   Coco Chanel 197.  It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You...   Mahatma Gandhi 198.  Jingshen is the Mandarin word for spirit and vivacity. It is an important...   James L. Hayes 199.  Just because everything is different doesn’t mean that anything...   Irene Peter 200.  Keep your mind open to change at all times. Welcome it. Court it....   Dale Carnegie 201.  Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly...   Mother Theresa 202.  Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering...   Tao te Ching 203.  Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens   Jimi Hendrix 204.  Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other   John F. Kennedy 205.  Leadership cannot just go along to get along... Leadership must meet...   Jesse Jackson 206.  Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of...   Lewis H. Lapham 207.  Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must...   Jesse Jackson 208.  Leadership has less to do with position than it has with disposition   John C. Maxwell 209.  Leadership is action, not position   Donald McGannon 210.  Creative leaders find ways of stepping into the shoes of other people...   Gay Hendricks and Kate Ludeman 211.  Leadership is influence   John C. Maxwell 212.  Leadership is not found in position; it is found in action and influence   Glen Martin and Gary MacIntosh 213.  Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in...   Harold Geneen 214.  Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of...   Eddie Robinson 215.  Let us look further at the essentials of leadership. Of the greatest...   Mary Parker Follett 216.  Life is a daring adventure or nothing   Helen Keller 217.  Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.   Karen Kaiser Clark 218.  Little things affect little minds.   Benjamin Disraeli 219.  Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And,...   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 220.  Management by objective works if you know the objectives. Ninety...   Mary Kay 221.  Many are stubborn in the pursuit of the path they have chosen, few...   Freidrich Nietzsche 222.  Men are not prisoners of fate, only prisoners of their own minds.   Franklin D. Roosevelt 223.  Men do not stumble over mountains but over molehills   Confucius 224.  Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for...   Peter Drucker 225.  Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's...   Abraham Lincoln 226.  Neither shall you allege the example of the many as an excuse for...   Exodus 23:2 227.  Never be entirely idle; but either be reading, or writing, or praying,...   Thomas à Kempis 228.  Never hire or promote in your own image. It is foolish to replicate...   Dee W. Hock 229.  Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake   Napoleon Bonaparte 230.  Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you