Leader quotes
3.2K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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"I've not seen an effective manager or leader who can't spend some fraction of time down in the trenches... If they don't do that they get out of touch with reality, and their whole thought and management process becomes abstract and disconnected."
"As the U.S. trade deficit, and the portion of that deficit attributed to China, continue to grow, our own economy is at risk of losing its reputation as a leader in world trade."
"We don't want to be like the leader in the French Revolution who said There go my people, I must find out where they are going so I can lead them."
"Many exhibits from this aquarium use Hawaii's abundant natural daylight. This allows Waikiki to display only live coral, which creates beautiful exhibits. It's also a world leader in the propagation of live coral. The aquarium features some unusual and rarely seen species, including the chambered nautilus and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal."
"Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamor for, a leader."
"Many African leaders refuse to send their troops on peace keeping missions abroad because they probably need their armies to intimidate their own populations."
"Good leaders are scarce; so I'm following myself."
"If you're looking for the safe choice, you shouldn't be supporting a black guy named Barack Obama to be the next leader of the free world."
"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."
"The point is ISIL leaders cannot hide. And our next message to them is simple - you are next."
"One of the great things about the United States is that when it comes to world affairs, the president obviously is the leader of the Executive Branch, the Commander-in-Chief, the spokesperson for the nation, but the influence and the work that we have is the result not just of the president, it is the result of countless interactions and arrangements and relationships between our military and other militaries, and our diplomats and other diplomats, the intelligence officers and development workers."
"I see myself as more of a policy maker than a political leader."
"Most of the time, leaders should laugh at themselves rather than others."
"Imagine how different a world might be if more leaders took time to ponder the finality of death before racing off to war."
"It wouldn't cost too much to change the rules of trade so that poor countries can work their way out of poverty. But the world's leaders won't act unless they hear enough people telling them. And every day they fail to act, thousands of people die because they can't afford the basics of survival."
"Politics and religious leaders [are hindered] by their egotism."
"In the hands of vicious men, a mob will do anything. But under good leaders it's quite a different story."
"If you are going to be a leader, you must have a record where people saw you are standing up against injustice at a risk. Then that builds up your stock of credibility so that, when you speak on another occasion about a different thing, people will pay attention."
"I believe in MasterPeace. World leaders cannot push back armed conflict alone. We need the whole world to make this happen."
"We mustn't romanticize suffering. It can turn people bitter and hard, although it does seem to have been almost indispensable in making people into the kind of leaders that we admire."
