Norman Schwarzkopf

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy."

"I have never believed that there is a secret formula for success. Success is nothing more than showing up day after day and trying your best."

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."

"When placed in my care, the lives of my soldiers, just like you would not expect any less."

"Every leader has a responsibility to instill hope and confidence in those they lead."

"You must be willing to do the things today others won't do in order to have the things tomorrow others won't have."

"Courage is fear that has said its prayers."

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."

"A leader must have the courage to act against an expert's advice."

"What leaders must do is make decisions that will take years off my life, not decisions to save face."

"I grew up in the Army. My father was a general. The fundamental thing about being a soldier is accepting orders, accepting the chain of command."

"Excellence is a destination; it's a continuous journey that never ends."

"Don't confuse orders with mission. Your mission is what you're trying to accomplish. Orders are how you're told to accomplish it."

"The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else."

"Sometimes I was afraid, but I couldn't admit it because I was supposed to be the leader."

"A good leader will trust the experts in their field, but will not be bound by them."

"This is a just war. This is a war with all the terrible things that it entails, but it is right."

"You don't have to be the smartest person in the room to be the leader."

"The real issue is not whether a person has lobotomized themselves, but what the ultimate goal and the ultimate dream is."

"Concentrate your strength against your competitor's relative weakness."

"I am convinced that today the mission of this institution is just as important as when the university was founded."

"I knew the Iraqis would not do anything that would provoke the use of force by us."

"The most important thing a leader can do is to acknowledge his own mistakes quickly and directly."

"A very large percentage of mankind has a certain amount of power to call forth great exertion."

"When I take command of any organization, the first thing I do is make sure that everyone knows what I stand for."

"You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too."

"Taking responsibility is something that's become a rare commodity in today's world."

"I think that what we have to do is make sure that this conflict does not become a wider Middle Eastern conflict."

"Never forget that you are not fighting for politics or diplomacy. You are fighting for the survival of your way of life."

"Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible."