Finding Inspiration in the Words of Great Leaders

So many brilliant people have turned such wonderful and inspirational quotes over the years and we would do well as leaders to learn from them.  I’ve compiled a few of my all-time favorite quotes in this post and encourage you to share your favorite ones with the members of your team.  Heck, go crazy and print a bunch of them out and post them on your office bulletin board.

There’s something special about a great quote.  It captures an idea in the span of a few short words and that idea is so much bigger than we would expect.  It inspires.  It stirs the soul.  It elicits unexpected emotions from the depths of our being.  There’s a reason we love quotes: they work.

So without further preamble, here are some of my all-time favorite leadership quotes:

– “Never mistake a clear view for a short distance.” – Paul Saffo

– “Equality is not only a right, it is also a noun.” – George Merriam of Merriam-Webster*

– “Veni. Vedi.” – Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus after the Battle of Bedriacum*

– “Egalitarianism is so much more than a value; it is the system by which they govern.” – John James Audubon*

– “Run!” – Major General George Armstrong Custer**

– “Golf is like leadership – it’s hard as hell but everyone thinks they can do it.” – Chi Chi Rodriguez*

– “Old man, I’m gonna come at you like a spider monkey!” – Texas Ranger

– “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.” – Homer Simpson

– “Never sneak up on a man who’s been in a chemical fire.” – Ian McShane as Frank Powell

– “A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours.” – Milton Berle

– “Good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” – Steve Jobs

– “I pretty much operate on adrenaline and ignorance.” – Johnny Knoxville

– “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” – Japanese Proverb

– “Every rose has its thorn.” – Poison

– “You won’t like me when I’m angry.” – Bruce Banner

– “One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat teamwork.” – Edward Abbey

– “Underpromise; overdeliver.” – Tom Peters

– “Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire.” – Nicolas Boileau***

– “Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong (he totally said this)

So there you have some of my favorite quotes on life and leadership.  I think perhaps the most powerful lesson I’ve ever learned on leadership, however, was in this video.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy watching it as much as I enjoy sharing it with you.****

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

*I totally made these up.

**I made this up but I’ll betcha fifty bucks he said it.

***”A fool always finds a greater fool to admire him.” – So fitting to have on this list given I’m clearly the aforementioned fool.

****Read the first letter of every quote.  If you don’t get it, read this.

*****Look at the date of this post. Yup.

******I like using asterisks for footnotes.  They look like snowflakes.

*******Lighten up.  It’s not every year that April Fool’s falls on a day I write a blog post.