Leadership Quotes

"The discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instruction and give commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice as to inspire in the soldier no feeling but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the other in dealing with subordinates springs from a corresponding spirit in the breast of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire in them respect for himself; while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his subordinates, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself."

- LTG John M. Schofield

"I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor food; I offer only hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles, and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart, and not merely with his lips, follow me."

- Giuseppe Garibaldi

"We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training."

- Archilochus

"Who you are on a daily basis is who you are when you compete. If you want to be a champion, you have to have the mindset of a champion every day."

- Jerry Ingalls

"We do not seek peace in order to be at war, but we go to war that we may have peace. Be peaceful, therefore, in warring, so that you may vanquish those whom you war against, and bring them to the prosperity of peace."

- St. Augustine

"Success is peace of mind that is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

- Coach John Wooden

"War makes extremely heavy demands on the soldier’s strength and nerves. For this reason, make heavy demands on your men in peacetime exercises."

- German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

"It is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it."

- General Robert E. Lee

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

- John Stuart Mills

"In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it."

- Field Marshall Erwin Rommel

"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten; then he who continues the attack wins."

- General Ulysses S. Grant

"The good general is simply the good company commander in his post-graduate course. The idea that more godlike qualities are required of him and that he above others can achieve miracles through the working of his will is dismissed as idle superstition."

- S.L.A. Marshall

"A man does not have himself killed for a half-pence a day or for a petty distinction. You must speak to the soul in order to electrify him."

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"Who you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A man has integrity if his interest in the good of the service is at all times greater than his personal pride, and when he holds himself to the same line of duty when unobserved as he would follow if his superiors were present."

- General S.L.A. Marshall

"If you’re never satisfied with what you have achieved, you’re never going to be satisfied with what you do achieve."

- Chris LoCurto

"I contend that fortitude in war has its roots in morality; that selection is a search for character and that war itself is but one more test— the supreme and final test if you will—of character."

- Lord Moran

"Tell them of us and say, For their tomorrow, We gave our today."

- The Kohima Epitaph

"We are defined by what we do repeatedly, therefore excellence is a habit, not an act."

- Aristotle

"The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."

- Charles George Gordon

"We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."

- Omar Bradley

"Opportunity is missed by most because is it dressed in overalls and looks like work."

- Thomas Edison

"Be selective about whom you take on as friends, colleagues, and neighbors. The world is full of agreeable and talented folk. The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best."

- Epictetus

"Every hour be firmly resolved…to accomplish the work at hand with fitting and unaffected dignity, goodwill, freedom, justice."

- Marcus Aurelius

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

- George Orwell

"I don’t know whether this is the best of times or the worst of times, but I assure you it’s the only time you’ve got."

- Art Buchwald

"Those who gain experience while retaining a firm hold on a beginner’s state of mind become long term survivors."

- Laurence Gonzales

"Plan the flight and fly the plan, but don’t fall in love with the plan. Be open to a changing world and let go of the plan when necessary so that you can make a new plan."

- Laurence Gonzales

"When you act on your priority, you’ll automatically go out of balance, giving more time to one thing over another."

- Gary Keller

"What are the values of a Good Soldier? Freedom and courage. Freedom is what makes us fight, and courage is what keeps us from running away."