Quotes About Leadership

The desire we so often hear expressed today for "episcopal figures," "priestly men," "authoritative personalities" springs frequently enough from a spiritually sick need for the admiration of men, for the establishment of visible human authority, because the genuine authority of service appears to be so unimpressive.

Therefore let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers' (Rom 13.1). The Christian must not be drawn to the bearers of high office; his calling is to stay below. The higher power are over him, and he must remain under them. The world exercises dominion, the Christian serves, and thus he shares the earthly lot of his Lord, who became a servant. 'For there is no power but of God.' (Mark 10.42-45) These words are addressed to the Christians, not to the powers.

It is essential for the image of the Leader that the group does not see the face of the one who goes before, but sees him only from behind as the figure stepping out ahead. His humanity is veiled in his Leader's form.

The extemporaneous prayer at the close of daily worship normally will be said by the head of the house [Hausvater]. But in any case it is best that it always be said by the same person.

Ultimately all authority on earth must serve only the authority of Jesus Christ over humankind.

What will really matter is whether those in power expect more from people's folly than from their wisdom and independence of mind.

Self-denial means knowing only Christ, and no longer oneself. It means seeing only Christ, who goes ahead of us, and no longer the path that is too difficult for us… . Self-denial is saying only: He goes ahead of us; hold fast to him.

To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: "He leads the way, keep close to him.

The Roman church's unmistakable claim is that there is only one church and only one faith and that Christendom needs a visible head, a chief shepherd, to guide the church and to care for the faithful with fatherly care. The longing for a lost Western empire, longing for the corpus christianum in which emperor and pope together are guardians of the unity of the Christian West, cannot fade away as long as there is a papacy.

Authority rests upon his shoulders" (Isa. 9:6).

When asked about the extent to which the British decision to quit India was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's 1942 movement, Attlee's lips widened in smile of disdain and he uttered, slowly, "Minimal."5

The church is not a campus but a community. Pastors are not CEOs; they are shepherds.

The applause of the audience is short-lived. When calls resound for an encore, we are called to direct our attention to our Master.

Those who wish to stand tallest must kneel lowest.

There is nothing more restless than men in power.

Christianity enhanced the notion of political and social accountability by providing a new model: that of servant leadership. In ancient Greece and Rome no one would have dreamed of considering political leaders anyone's servants. The job of the leader was to lead. But Christ invented the notion that the way to lead is by serving the needs of others, especially those who are the most needy.

Wise kings generally have wise counselors and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.

A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and if one of the team cannot handle the forces, everybody is going to suffer. A ritual lodge is no place for the well-meaning ineffectual.

Occultism has no Pope.

Every man has a house-broken heart except the great man.

I can think of nothing more horrible than an orchestra that has gone out of control at rehearsal. I wouldn't wish it on an enemy.

What galls me is that these sadists always have fans and followers-- and sincere ones at that. The typical example of this is Toscanini.

What remains a mystery, however, is not the financial details of his everyday life, but how he, like his comrades Trotsky and Stalin—none of them ever having worked for a living, and none of them having anything in common with the working class—could think they had the right to determine the fate of a great nation, and to carry out their bloody, monstrous experiment.

Hadži?: Gospodine generale, te ?injenice zna i Vrhovna Komanda. A sa brega se dalje vidi, stara je mudrost. General Miši?: Ali pod uslovom da oni na vrhu brega nisu slepi, da imaju bolje o?i od onih što su na strani ili u podnožju. A ja u mnogim prilikama sumnjam u vidovitost onih što gledaju s vrha brega. Ako su im oblaci bliži, ljudi su im manji.