GREAT QUOTES from GREAT LEADERS

In the spirit of recognizing visionary world leaders, developing great leaders and adopting difference-making mantras and sound philosophies, our team gathered a few insightful quotes from noteworthy leaders, helping us separate good leaders from great ones. God bless you on your journey and may these quotes inspire you.

12 powerful quotes on Values

A great leader knows how to adopt, stand by and convey their values. Here are 12 powerful quotes relative to an individual’s principles and how they align with an individual’s pursuit of endeavors, operations of a business or the supporting of a concept/idea: 

1. “Half a truth is often a great lie.”                                                                    

― Benjamin Franklin

2. "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

― Thomas Jefferson

3. "Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected."

― George Washington

4. "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

― Mother Teresa

5. "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

― Publilius Syrus

6. “Top 15 Things Money Can’t Buy Time. Happiness. Inner Peace. Integrity. Love. Character.

Manners. Health. Respect. Morals. Trust. Patience. Class. Common sense. Dignity.”

― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

7. “Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.”

― Mark Twain

8. “Compassion is the basis of morality.”

― Arthur Schopenhauer

9. “You are remembered for the rules you break.”

― Douglas MacArthur

10. “So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is

what you feel bad after.”

― Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon 

11. “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners”

― Laurence Sterne

12. “Do not be deceived: bad company corrupts good morals.”

― Anonymous, The Holy Bible: King James Version

12 quotes on the qualities of a great leader.

Average leaders raise questions, concerns and find roadblocks - skillful leaders seize on what they don’t know and find the answers. Here are 12 leadership quotes on the necessary qualities of a great leader:

1. "Champions keep playing until they get it right."

― Billie Jean King

2. "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

-John Maxwell

3. "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

-John F. Kennedy

4. "A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

-Dwight Eisenhower

5. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the

face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

6. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

-William Arthur Ward

7. “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.”

-Andrew Carnegie

8. “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.”

-Arnold Glasow

9. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing

that ever has.”

― Margaret Mead

10. “Mastery is great, but even that is not enough. You have to be able to change course without a bead of sweat, or remorse.”

-Tom Peters

11. “Good leaders build products. Great leaders build cultures. Good leaders deliver results. Great leaders develop people. Good leaders have vision. Great leaders have values. Good leaders are role models at work. Great leaders are role models in life.”

-Adam Grant

12. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

-Martin Luther King Jr. 

12  quotes on how brilliant leaders deliver results

Leadership is not just having good (or even great) ideas…it’s the ability to deliver results even in the face of adversity, and knowing where to dedicate your and other people’s energy.

Here are 12 leadership quotes on how good leaders get results:

1. “Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice.”

-Henry Ford

2. “You don’t get any medal for trying something, you get

medals for results."

-Bill Parcells

3. “In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."

-Theodore Roosevelt

4. “He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who

would attain highly must sacrifice greatly."

-James Allen

5. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done."

-Bruce Lee

6. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

-Helen Keller

7. “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you

can do."

-John Wooden

8. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage

to continue that count.”

-Winston Churchill

9. “Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.”

-John F. Kennedy

10. “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

11. “Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”         

-John F. Kennedy

12. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge,

but rather a lack of will.”                                                                                                 

-Vince Lombardi

12 quotes on how the greatest leaders inspire action

Top leaders inspire action through communication, inspiration, demonstration and incentives – and they share the credit. Here are 12 motivational quotes on how the greatest leaders mobilize teams:

1. “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”

-Andrew Jackson

2. “The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision."

-Ken Blanchard

3.  “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead,

teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

4. "Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."

-George S. Patton Jr.

5. "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."

-Albert Schweitzer

6. "A leader ... is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the

others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."

-Nelson Mandela

7. "Silent gratitude isn't very much to anyone."

-Gertrude Stein

8. "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

-Theodore Roosevelt

9. "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

10. "Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others."

-Robert Louis Stevenson

11. "America is too great for small dreams."

-Ronald Reagan

12. "A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together."

-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe