Quotable quotes
As the world spins in chaos, I ponder the virtues of good leadership. To remind us about civility, decency and the true meaning of leadership, I offer these quotes from some of the world’s leading leaders, so to speak. They should be role models for aspiring leaders. Interestingly, the virtue that stands out the most is ….. humility.
Never will a true leader talk about taking things that don’t belong to them, or arm-wrestling things away from others just because they have power. More importantly, never would a person who is good at heart, who knows right from wrong, condone or overlook such behaviour from anyone, let alone a leader.
“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent”. - Abraham Lincoln
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind”. - Mahatma Gandhi
“Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world, but to change ourselves”. - Mahatma Gandhi
“Service without humility is selfishness and egotism”. - Mahatma Gandhi
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”. - Nelson Mandela
“The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself… Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, of humility”. - Nelson Mandela
“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
“A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it’s lowest ones”. - Nelson Mandela
“If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are”. - Mother Theresa
“You must live life beautifully and not allow the spirit of the world that makes gods out of power, riches, and pleasure make you to forget that you have been created for greater things”. - Mother Theresa
“We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion”. - Mother Theresa
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly”. - Jim Rohn
“The supreme quality of leadership is integrity”. - Dwight Eisenhower
“You don’t lead by hitting people over the head - that’s assault, not leadership”. –Dwight Eisenhower
And, my favourite:
“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always”. - Mahatma Gandhi
Email me: bernadette@gogettercoaching.com .