Timeless Inspiration: 50+ Powerful Quotes from Legendary Military Leaders

"All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don’t know by what you do do; that’s what I call ‘guessing what was on the other side of the hill"

- Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."

- George Patton

"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning."

- Erwin Rommel

"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand."

- General Colin Powell

"Today's tactical victory does not guarantee tomorrow's strategic success."

- Peter Pace

"That synchronized cycle — what we called our “battle rhythm” — was fueled by the O&I, which pumped information and context throughout our Task Force."

- General (Retired) McChrystal

"Step one of inspiring your team is really to help them to get bought into the leader, but step two is to help them get bought into the mission"

- Former Commanding Officer US Marine Corps David Robinson

"The truth is that you always know the right thing to do. The tough part is doing it."

- General Norman Schwarzkopf

"leader leads by example, not by force."

- Sun Tzu

"Discipline is the soul of an army."

- George Washington

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week"

- George Patton

"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."

- Jim Mattis

"All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters either. Every single man in this Army play a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain."

- General George S. Patton

"Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision: its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, more a matter of accurate calculation, of statistics, of methods, timetables and routine; its practice is a science. Managers are necessary; leaders are essential."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"You manage things; you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington."

- Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

"Leaders must be motivators, educators, role models, sounding boards, confessors, and cheerleaders—they must be accessible, and they must aggressively pursue contact with colleagues and subordinates."

- Lieutenant General, William Pagonis

"I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself."

- Robert E. Lee

"Never take counsel of your fears."

- General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson

"Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death."

- Omar Bradley

"An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep."

- Alexander the Great

"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his."

- George S. Patton

"Who dares, wins. Who sweats, wins. Who plans, wins."

- British Special Air Service (SAS)

"Read over and over again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, Eugene and Frederic…This is the only way to become a great general and master the secrets of the art of war…"

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"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

"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."

- Douglas MacArthur

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

- Robert E. Lee

"Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior."

- Carl von Clausewitz

"The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth."

- Stonewall Jackson

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"

- Winston S. Churchill

"Don't stop trying or fighting for what you believe in the first time someone tells you no."

- General (Retired) Ann Dunwoody

"Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end."

- Field Marshal Douglas Haig

"Attract the right people. Let them know what they have to do. Give them the tools to do the job. And when they get it done, your job as a leader is to make sure they get the credit for it."

- General (Retired) Rick Hillier

"Men mean more than guns in the rating of a ship"

- John Paul Jones

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

- General George S. Patton

"Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best”"

- Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."

- Norman Schwarzkopf

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

- Colin Powell

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

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

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow."

- General Colin Powell

"When things go wrong in your command, start wading for the reason in increasingly larger concentric circles around your own desk."

- General Bruce D. Clark

"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

- General George S. Patton

"Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself and let your troops see that you don’t in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide."

- German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

"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

"A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him."

- General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur

"The truly great leader overcomes all difficulties, and campaigns and battles are nothing but a long series of difficulties to be overcome. The lack of equipment, the lack of food, the lack of this or that are only excuses; the real leader displays his quality in his triumphs over adversity, however great it may be."

- General of the Army George C Marshall

"I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom."

- General George S. Patton

"Leadership in a democratic army means firmness, not harshness; understanding, not weakness; generosity, not selfishness; pride, not egotism."

- GEN Omar Bradley

"Inseparable from the concept of service is the concept of integrity. The citizens of this great Nation place great trust in their military Services. They will continue to judge us by stricter rules than they apply to themselves And they should do that because, ultimately, their security rests with us and the way we perform our duties. The people of this Nation have entrusted their Armed Forces with the most awesome weapons the world has ever seen, but they have also placed the lives of their sons and daughters who serve and the safety of their own families for now and in the future in the hands of the Armed Forces. Don’t confuse integrity with infallibility. There’s a great tendency to do that. As Gary Cooper said in High Noon, you should ’aim to be high–regarded’; but you should remember that you are also human and fallible. Those who will lead you are also human and fallible. The code of the warrior class has room for fallibility Certainly, the higher up the flagpole you go, the more of your fallible backside will show. There is room for that; but, there is no room for a lack of integrity or for those who place self before duty or self before comrades or self before country. Careerism is the one great sin, and it has no place among you. If you achieve success over the bodies or the careers of your comrades, you have served your nation poorly and you have violated the code of the warrior class. There won’t be any tribunal to judge your actions at the height of battle; there are only the hopes of the citizenry who are relying upon your integrity and skill. They may well criticize you later amid the relative calm of victory or defeat. But, there is a crucial moment in crisis or battle when those you lead and the citizens of the Nation can only trust that you are doing what is right. And you develop that concept through integrity."

- GEN John Vessey, Jr.

"Don’t begrudge the time you spend developing, coaching and helping your people to grow so they can carry on when you’re gone. It’s one of the best signs of good leadership."

- GEN Omar Bradley

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent."

- Douglas MacArthur

"Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country...."

- Gen. Douglas MacArthur

"In the midst of war, when all else is in flux, at least one thing stands fast. The methods, the self–discipline, and the personality that will best enable the officer to command efficiently during peace are identical with the requirements that fit him to shape new material most perfectly under the conditions of war. The power of decision develops only from practice. There is nothing mystic about it. It comes of a clear–eyed willingness to accept life’s risks, recognizing that only the enfeebled are comforted by thoughts of an existence devoid of struggle. It must be accepted that discipline does not break down under the strain of placing a testing demand upon the individual. It is sloth, not activity, that destroys discipline. There are no bad troops; there are only bad leaders."

- BG S. L. A. Marshall

"You have to lead men in war by bringing them along to endure and display qualities of fortitude that are beyond the average man’s thought of what he should be expected to do. You have to inspire them when they are hungry and exhausted and desperately uncomfortable and in great danger; and only a man of positive characteristics of leadership, with the physical stamina that goes with it, can function under those conditions. Remember this: the truly great leader overcomes all difficulties, and campaigns and battles are nothing but a long series of difficulties to be overcome The lack of equipment, the lack of food, the lack of this or that are only excuses; the real leader displays his qualities in his triumph over adversity, however great it may be. Army officers are intelligent. Give them the bare tree, let them supply the leaves."

- GEN George Marshall

"The test of a leader lies in the reaction and response of his followers. He should not have to impose authority. Bossiness in itself never made a leader He must make his influence felt by example and the instilling of confidence in his followers. The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness."

- GEN Omar Bradley

"Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it."

- GEN Omar Bradley

"I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself. Do your duty in all things. You should never wish to do less."

- GEN Robert Lee

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

- Winston Churchill

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

- Gen. George S. Patton

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things."

- President Ronald Reagan

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

- Harry S. Truman

"Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them."

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."

- General Norman Schwarzkopf

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"If officers desire to have control over their commands, they must remain habitually with them, industriously attend to their instruction and comfort, and in battle lead them well."

- Stonewall Jackson

"Facta non verba (Translation: Deeds, not words)"

- Canadian Joint Task Force

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm"

- George Orwell

"I divide my officers into four classes as follows: the clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff. Use can, under certain circumstances, be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership posts. He has the requisite and the mental clarity for difficult decisions. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous."

- Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people…This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"War is mankind's most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men. Though you follow the trade of the warrior, you do so in the spirit of Washington -- not of Genghis Khan. For Americans, only threat to our way of life justifies resort to conflict."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"But all history has taught us the grim lesson that no nation has ever been successful in avoiding the terrors of war by refusing to defend its rights -- by attempting to placate aggression."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"If you kill enough of them, they stop fighting."

- Curtis LeMay

"I go where the sound of thunder is."

- Alfred M. Gray

"To lack intelligence is to be in the ring blindfolded."

- David M. Shoup

"My center is giving way, my right is in retreat; situation excellent. I shall attack."

- Ferdinand Foch

"The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy."

- Heinz Guderian

"Our strategy is one of preventing war by making it self-evident to our enemies that they're going to get their clocks cleaned if they start one."

- John W. Vessey, Jr.

"I had rather have a plain, russet-coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a Gentle-man and is nothing else."

- Oliver Cromwell

"No one hates war like a soldier hates war."

- Tommy Franks

"There are no desperate situations, there are only desperate people."

- Heinz Guderian

"The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars."

- William Westmoreland

"The badge of rank which an officer wears on his coat is really a symbol of servitude to his men."

- GEN George Patton

"...each, in his appropriate sphere, will lead in person. Any commander who fails to obtain his objective, and who is not dead or severely wounded, has not done his full duty."

- GEN George Patton

"A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops; while, on the contrary, an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops."

- Gen. John J. Pershing

"...the success of a military commander depends largely upon his practical turn of mind, whether it be in planning and directing military operations in the field or managing the business of transportation and supply Military science is based on principles that have been deduced from the application of common sense in the conduct of military affairs...military genius is really only the capacity to understand and apply simple principles founded on experience and sound reasoning."

- Gen. John J. Pershing

"If I were asked to define leadership, I should say it is the projection of personality It is the most intensely personal thing in the world because it is just plain you. The qualities that distinguish a leader from other men are courage, will power, initiative, and knowledge. If you have not got those qualities you will not make a leader; if you have them, you will."

- Field Marshal Sir William Slim

"The rare quality of being an effective leader cannot be attributed to any single trait, practice, characteristic or ”Golden Rule“. Effective leadership is a delicate combination of integrity, perseverance, technical knowledge, mission awareness, a sense of fairness and genuine concern for one’s soldiers."

- SGM Sweeny

"A company commander’s first object should be to gain the love of his men, by treating them with every possible kindness and humanity, enquiring into their complaints, and when well–founded, seeing them redressed He should know every man of his company by name and character"

- Frederick Wilhelm von Steuben

"The test of character is not ’hanging in’ when you expect light at the end of the tunnel, but performance of duty and persistence of example when you know no light is coming. Leadership under pressure will often entail being a moralist, jurist, teacher, steward and philosopher."

- ADM James B. Stockdale

"Even with the gifts of human understanding and of professional competence arising from careful training, our military leader will not be complete without character, character which reflects inner strength and justified confidence in oneself."

- GEN Maxwell Taylor

"It is easy enough to provide soldiers with their basic needs—food and shelter, for example—but it takes skillful, imaginative and dedicated leaders to create an atmosphere where soldiers and their family members share a sense of purpose and belonging."

- GEN Maxwell Taylor

"The message is that better soldiers demand more from their leaders. In this sense authority flows from competence, not rank. You will find in the days ahead that your ability to lead will be challenged by young soldiers anxious to succeed. They will not challenge you from the bottom of the ladder but from the top. Your future as a leader will be based upon how well you learn to manage success."

- GEN Maxwell R. Thurman

"He should give praise where praise is due, ungrudgingly by word of mouth or written order. He should show himself as frequently as possible to his troops and as impressively as possible. He should never indulge in sarcasm, which is being clever at someone else’s expense and always offends. He should tell his soldiers the truth, save when absolutely necessary to conceal plans."

- Lee Knowles

"No, I don’t agree with that. I think there are some men who have a better chance of developing into leaders. This primarily because of their interest in the activities that lead to leadership. I think most genius is the result of hard work; and any young man, if he has guts and stick–to–itiveness, can make good in life, if given an average body and mind. It’s up to the individual; but there must be a spark, a continuing curiosity."

- Albert C. Wedemeyer

"Leaders are made by the day–to–day practice and fine tuning of leadership talents, because leading is an art as well, is a science and best developed by application. Leaders are made by the steady acquisition of professional knowledge and by the development of 24–karat character during the course of a career. The professional knowledge of leaders is essential to sound teaching and to improve the proficiency as well as readiness of units. Personal and professional excellence...you can’t do one without the other...they are all wrapped up in the word ’ character’."

- GEN John Wickham, Jr.

"I would caution you always to remember that an essential qualification of a good leader is the ability to recognize, select, and train junior leaders."

- GEN Omar Bradley

"I would say some are born. A person can be born with certain qualities of leadership: good physique, good mental capacity, curiosity, the desire to know. When you go to pick out the best pup in a litter of bird dogs, you pick out the pup even though he is only 6 weeks old. He is curious, going around looking into things, and that kind of dog usually turns out to be the best dog. But there are qualities one can improve on. A thorough knowledge of your profession is the first requirement of leadership and this certainly has to be acquired. Observing others is important—trying to determine what makes them stand out. That’s why I think we can learn a lot by studying past leaders. Studying Lee, other Civil War leaders, Jackson, Lincoln. Trying to see what made them great."

- GEN Omar Bradley

"When things go wrong in your command, start searching for the reason in increasingly larger concentric circles around your own desk."

- Gen. Bruce Clarke

"You must be able to underwrite the honest mistakes of your subordinates if you wish to develop their initiative and experience."

- Gen. Bruce Clarke

"Rank is given you to enable you to better serve those above and below you It is not given for you to practice your idiosyncrasies."

- Gen. Bruce Clarke

"Regardless of age or grade, soldiers should be treated as mature individuals They are men engaged in an honorable profession and deserve to be treated as such."

- Gen. Bruce Clarke

"It is, indeed, an observable fact that all leaders of men, whether as political figures, prophets, or soldiers, all those who can get the best out of others, have always identified themselves with high ideals."

- GEN Charles DeGaulle

"Soldiers will not follow any battle leader with confidence unless they know that he will require full performance of duty from every member of the team."

- GEN Dwight Eisenhower

"I think that there is something to the expression ’born to lead’. But there are many people who have the potential for leadership, just as there are probably many people born with the potential to be great artists that never have the opportunity or the training for the full development of their talents. I think leadership is a product of native ability plus environment By environment, I mean training and the opportunity to exercise leadership"

- GEN Dwight Eisenhower

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

- John F. Kennedy

"Over 2400 years ago, the Greek Historian Herodotus wrote a ‘History of the Persian Wars’ so that ’men’s actions may not be effaced by time nor the great and wondrous deeds’ of ’the Greeks be deprived of renown, Since that time countless writers have attempted to capture the essence of the great captains. In virtually every case great leaders have been those who gave extra effort and sought out challenge in all forms. There are no short cuts and sadly no easy ways to selfless leadership. Leadership is to be learned from experience and from study, toil, trial and error. The good things in life are worth striving for and nothing is more rewarding than leading soldiers.”"

- GEN Robert Kingston

"There's likely a place in paradise for people who tried hard, but what really matters is succeeding. If that requires you to change, that's your mission."

- General Stanley McChrystal

"You can assign a man to a leadership position, but no one will ever really be a leader until his appointment is ratified in the hearts and minds of his soldiers. The first thing to do in operating as a leader is be honest with The problem is there is much rhetoric in this business. There is not enough honesty with ourselves about just who we are and whether we are really perceived as a leader by our subordinates. An honest–to–God, soul searching, self–evaluation is in order—and very difficult to do. I think this is the first vital step as one goes about the business of becoming a better leader. Your soldiers will gauge how well you are doing. You can fool bosses, and at times even peers, but you can’t fool your subordinates. Look into their eyes—you’ll really learn something."

- GEN William Livsey

"The strength of the group is the strength of the leader—I am the first believer Leaders must have the quiet confidence, the certainty, of professional preparation and personal conviction that the task can and will be done. If so, it will."

- Vince Lombardi

"Leadership in the field depends to an important extent on one’s legs, and stomach, and nervous system, and on one’s ability to withstand hardships, and lack of sleep, and still be disposed energetically and aggressively to command men, to dominate men on the battlefield."

- GEN George Marshall

"He is what his home, his religion, his schooling, and the moral code and ideals of his society have made him. The Army cannot unmake him. It must reckon with the fact that he comes from a civilization in which aggression connected with the taking of life, is prohibited and unacceptable"

- BG S. L. A. Marshall

"...every single soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole."

- Field Marshall Montgomery

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

- President John Quincy Adams

"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

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

- General Robert E. Lee

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

- General Ulysses S. Grant

"Always do everything you ask of those you command."

- General George S. Patton

"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

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy."

- General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul."

- General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur

"The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph."

- George Washington

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight -- it's the size of the fight in the dog."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, and former General of the Army

"To err is nature, to rectify error is glory."

- George Washington

"Preparedness is the key to success and victory."

- General of the Army, Douglas MacArthur

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"I may not have been the best combat commander, but I always strove to be. My men depended on me to carefully analyze every tactical situation, to maximize the resources that I had at my disposal, to think under pressure, and then to lead them by personal example."

- Major Dick Winters

"Owning the facts is a prerequisite to leadership. But there are millions of technocrats out there with lots of facts in their quivers and little leadership potential. In many cases, what they are missing is empathy. No one is a leader who can’t put himself or herself in the other person’s shoes. Empathy and expertise command respect."

- William Pagonis

"Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine."

- Chris Hadfield

"When you become a leader you give up the right to think about yourself."

- Gerald Brooks

"When things go wrong in your command, start wading for the reason in increasing larger concentric circles around your own desk."

- General Bruce D. Clark

"Mountaintops inspire leaders, but valleys mature them."

- Winston Churchill

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

- Archilochus

"Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for."

- General Norman Schwarzkopf

"Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly."

- John F. Kennedy

"I would lay down my life for America, but I cannot trifle with my honor."

- John Paul Jones

"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality."

- John F. Kennedy

"Remember that it is far better to follow well than to lead indifferently."

- John Vance

"The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"A good leader can’t get too far ahead of his followers."

- Franklin Roosevelt

"In this respect I expressed my doubts about using the Corps directly on the South coast, to form a bridgehead for the Army - as the area immediately behind the coast was now covered with obstacles. These doubts were accepted by Hitler."

- Kurt Student

"After being severely wounded two weeks before my nineteenth birthday I had a bad time until I figured out that nothing could happen to me that had not happened to all men before me. Whatever I had to do men had always done. If they had done it then I could do it too and the best thing was not to worry about it."

- Ernest Hemingway

"we have seen war, we do not want war, but if you want war with the united states of america i can promise you this; Somebody else will raise your sons and daughters"

- Medal of honor recipient stg Bellvia

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

- Omar Bradley

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."

- Major General William T. Sherman

"Leaders must be seen to be up front, up to date, up to their job and up early in the morning."

- Marcus Sieff

"To spend a few minutes with people is simply not productive. If one wants to get anything across, one has to spend a fairly large minimum quantum of time. The manager who things that he can discuss the plans, direction, and performance of one of his subordinates in fifteen minutes – and many managers believe this – is just deceiving himself. If one wants to get to the point of having an impact, one needs probably at least an hour and usually more. And if one has to establish a human relationship, one needs infinitely more time."

- Peter F. Drucker

"No man is a leader until he is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men."

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power."

"The kind of leadership available to an organization is a principal factor in its operation. So far as armies are concerned the quality of leadership determines their success. Indeed it often determines their survival."

"No man is a leader until his appointment is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men."

"Trained commanders produce the best results under mission–type orders. These need only three things: —What is to be accomplished. —The coordinating factors necessary. —What help he can expect from you and others and how to get it."

"...I submit to you that leaders will never be more or less than their soldiers’ evaluation of them. This is the true efficiency report. From most of your troops you can expect courage to match your courage, guts to match your guts, endurance to match your endurance, motivation to match your motivation, esprit to match your esprit, a desire for achievement to match your desire for achievement. You can expect a love of God, a love of country and a love of duty and they won’t mind the heat if you sweat with them, and they won’t mind the cold if you shiver with them. You see, you don’t accept the troops, they were there first. They accept you And when they do, you’ll know. They won’t beat drums, wave flags, or carry you off the drill field on their shoulders, but you’ll know. You see, your orders will appoint you to command. No orders, letters, no insignia of rank can appoint you as a leader. Leadership is an intangible thing. Leadership is developed within yourselves and you’ll get stronger as you go."

"You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city. - If"

"A lack of planning on your part does not constitute a crisis on mine…unless of course I failed to lead you."

"If not me, who?"