Quotes About Leadership

But their refuge had been a dead end; all that inflexible old guard could do was to die and let younger minds, still limber, take over.

Nope. Gadflies such as yourself are utterly necessary. Nor am I opposed to 'turning the rascals out'—it's usually the soundest rule of politics. But it's well to take a look at what new rascals you are going to get before you jump at any chance to turn your present rascals out.

A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.

A military hierarchy automatically places a premium on conservative behavior and dull conformance with precedent; it tends to penalize original and imaginative thinking. Commodore Arkwright realized that these tendencies are inherent and inescapable; he hoped to offset them a bit by setting up a course that could not be passed without original thinking.

Demokrasi en iyi niyetli yakla??mla bile zavall? bir sistemdir; onunla ilgili söylenebilecek tek iyi ÅŸey, insan ?rk?n?n denemiÅŸ olduÄŸu diÄŸer sistemlerden yakla??k sekiz kat daha iyi olmas?d?r. Demokrasinin en büyük kusuru, liderlerinin oy ald?klar? seçmenlerin erdemlerini de kusurlar?n? da ta??malar?d?r; moral bozucu derecede düÅŸük bir düzey ama baÅŸka ne bekleyebilirsin?

Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.

Democracy is a poor system; the only thing that can be said for it is that it's eight times as good as any other method. Its worst fault is that its leaders reflect their constituents—a

Democracy is a poor system; the only thing that can be said for it is that it's eight times as good as any other method. Its worst fault is that its leaders reflect their constituents—a low level, but what can you expect?

In a mature society, "civil servant" is semantically equal to "civil master.

But a well-run tyranny is almost as scarce as an efficient democracy.

If you got good elective officials in your day, it was a happy accident, better than you deserved.

A managed democracy is a wonderful thing, Manuel, for the managers.

It is by no means enough that an officer should be capable. . . . He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. . . . No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention, even if the reward be only one word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate.

There was a lot to be said for the job of assistant section leader—when you come right to it, it's a lot easier to die than it is to use your head.

When will I learn? Had Boss wished to disclose the method, he would have told me. "Careless slips sink ships." Not around Boss.)

I don't pay attention to politics." "You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat." "I

more than six people cannot agree on anything, three is better—and one is perfect for a job that one can do. This is why parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest.

I don't pay attention to politics." "You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat.

The shrewdest of the great generals in China's history once said that perfection in war lay in so sapping the opponent's will that he surrenders without fighting.

I can think of no surer way to destroy confidence at our most critical period than by having a leader who wears a mask.

Have heard of armies where boss is not told to shut up – word is 'discipline.' But we were amateurs.

If a captain worries about the safety of his command, those under him need not worry.

The first principle in riding a tiger is to hang on tight to its ears.

We have had enough guesses; I'll state the obvious: Under our system every voter and officeholder is a man who has demonstrated through voluntary and difficult service that he places the welfare of the group ahead of personal advantage. And that is the one practical difference. He may fail in wisdom, he may lapse in civic virtue. But his average performance is enormously better than that of any other class of rulers in history.