Quotes About Leadership

It may be true, as Lincoln supposed, that "you can't fool all the people all the time," but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country. Is

For statesmanship is a science and an art; one must have lived for it and been long prepared. Only a philosopher-king is fit to guide a nation. Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and wisdom and political leadership meet in the same man,... cities will never cease from ill, nor the human race (473). This is the key-stone of the arch of Plato's thought.

No man is educated for statesmanship who cannot see his time from the perspective of the past.

Ruin, comes when the trader, whose heart is lifted up by wealth, becomes ruler

Magnanimity in politics," said Edmund Burke, "is not seldom the truest wisdom, and a great empire and little minds go ill together

But if the government itself is a chaos and an absurdity, if it rules without helping, and commands without leading,—how can we persuade the individual, in such a state, to obey the laws and confine his self-seeking within the circle of the total good?

In such cases the motives of the (usually hidden) leaders may be economic, but the result is largely determined by the passions of the mass.

For statesmanship is a science and an art; one must have lived for it and been long prepared. Only a philosopher-king is fit to guide a nation. "Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and wisdom and political leadership meet in the same man, . . . cities will never cease from ill, nor the human race" (473). This is the key-stone of the arch of Plato's thought.

From whatever angle we approach our eternal political problem we monotonously reach the same conclusion: that the community should determine the ends to be pursued, but that only experts should select and apply the means; that choice should be democratically spread, but that office should be rigidly reserved for the equipped and winnowed best. (p.89/543)

States are built not on the ideals but on the nature of men.

Democracy means perfect equality of opportunity, especially in education; not the rotation of every Tom, Dick and Harry in public office.

Cyrus and Darius created Persia, Xerxes inherited it, his successors destroyed it.

From whatever angle we approach our eternal political problem we monotonously reach the same conclusion: that the community should determine the ends to be pursued, but that only experts should select and apply the means; that choice should be democratically spread, but that office should be rigidly reserved for the equipped and winnowed best. (Chapter on Aristotle p.89/543)

Is it not shameful that men should be ruled by orators, who "go ringing on in long harangues, like brazen pots which, when struck, continue to sound till a hand is put upon them"?

At the other end of the scale history reports that the men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money manage all.

Men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things.

Government and History

On August 26 the Assembly responded by conferring French citizenship upon Joseph Priestley, Jeremy Bentham, William Wilberforce, Anacharsis Cloots, Johann Pestalozzi, Thaddeus Kosciusko, Friedrich Schiller, George Washington, Thomas Paine, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

PM está excesivamente organizada y se basa en gran medida en una ineficiente burocracia absurda.

The professor is not merely an information dispensing machine, but a skilled navigator of a complex landscape.

If I lived in North Korea, I'd want my own army, too.

Take a look around," the instructor had advised. "Ask yourself if there's anyone else who is better qualified to do the job. Not in the entire galaxy, but right there, at that point in time. If the answer is 'yes,' ask them to accept command, and do everything you can to support them. If the answer is 'no,' which it will be ninety-nine percent of the time, then take your best shot. That's all any of us can do.

The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him. NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI The Prince Standard year circa 1513

The most creative leaders are smart yet naive, playful but disciplined, humble, and proud.