Leadership Quotes

What separates leaders from the crowd? These words from history's most influential figures reveal the answer.

30104 quotes

"A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one."
Walt Whitman
"Produce great Persons, the rest follows."
Walt Whitman
"To understand leadership is to understand the art of service."
James Fenimore Cooper
"True leadership demands the courage to stand alone when principle requires it."
James Fenimore Cooper
"An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
E
"The man of genius lives to speak out the thoughts of his time."
Edgar Allan Poe
E
"Leadership is knowing when to lead and when to follow the wind."
Emily Dickinson
W
"True greatness lies in simplicity and goodness of heart."
Washington Irving
W
"In matters of moment, great men are generally not disposed to be precipitate in decision."
Washington Irving
W
"True power is the ability to inspire others without commanding them."
Washington Irving
H
"Some men are born to command; others are born to obey; most are born to neither."
Herman Melville
H
"A leader is one who sees the storm coming and prepares his crew."
Herman Melville
H
"A true leader serves those he commands."
Herman Melville
N
"There is no question what the roll of honor in America is. The roll of honor consists of the names of men who have squared their conduct by ideals of duty."
Nathaniel Hawthorne
"The greatest minds have always faced the fiercest opposition."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
E
"Like trains of cars on tracks of plush, we follow thee around."
Emily Dickinson
"Leadership is about making decisions under uncertainty."
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
"Leaders inspire."
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
F
"Leadership is the courage to stand alone."
François Mauriac
N
"A person's character is revealed in how they treat those beneath them."
Nathaniel Hawthorne
H
"The great Commodore Nelson was as good and wise a fellow as ever lived."
Herman Melville
H
"The power of example is greater than the power of authority."
Herman Melville
A
"Great is our admiration of the orator who speaks with fluency and discretion."
Anatole France
"Leadership is the art of convincing others to believe your lies."
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
F
"Leadership is the burden of seeing what others cannot yet perceive."
François Mauriac
F
"Leadership is the art of making others feel capable."
François Mauriac
H
"Leadership is the art of making others willing to follow you into uncertainty."
Herman Melville
N
"Good men have existed in all ages; but society has never been governed by them."
Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Leadership is the ability to convince others of your delusions."
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
"Leaders are those willing to sacrifice others for power."
Louis-Ferdinand Céline