Best 25 Wise and Inspirational Quotes about Leadership

There is an English saying: You can’t be everybody’s darling. Applied to leadership this means that leaders are not necessarily liked by everybody.

200 years ago, Abraham Lincoln worded this enigma in very wise words: You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.

Being a leader is often a very lonely job and not many are born to be a leader.

Leaders rarely receive appraisal; they are expected to inspire other people, to nurture their dreams, happily carry the burden of responsibility, and much more.

This is a collection of the 25 best quotes for leaders about leadership, its hardships, and its solaces. Enjoy and feel inspired, and keep going!

A good leader
is as good
as half an army.
German Proverb

Collage of Shutterstock images; Foreground: Bevan Goldswain, Background: zizar

When the best
leader’s work is done
the people say,
‘We did it ourselves.’
Laozi

(6th century BC,
philosopher of ancient China)

Anyone can hold the helm
when the sea is calm.
Publilius Syrus

(1st century BC, Latin writer of maxims)

I am more afraid
of an army of 100 sheep
led by a lion
than an army
of 100 lions
led by a sheep.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord,
prince de Talleyrand

(1754 – 1838, French diplomat)

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

(1767 – 1848, sixth President of the United States)

A leader
is a dealer
in hope.
Napoleon Bonaparte

(1769 – 1821, French military and political leader)

Uncertainty in commands
generates
uncertainty in obedience.
Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke

(1800 – 1891, German Field Marshal)

Good leadership
consists of showing
average people
how to do the work
of superior people.
John Davison Rockefeller

(1839 – 1937, American business magnate
and philanthropist)