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Leadership Quotes

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Leadership Quotes

This treasure trove of wise advice can help you head up a group project or lead an army into battle. (Whichever comes first, really.) Click on any leadership quote below to see it in context and find out where it falls on Shmoop's pretentious scale. We'll give you details on who said it, when they said it, and in some cases, why on earth they thought it was okay to say it.

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"A little less conversation, a little more action please."

Source: A Little Less Conversation | Speaker: Elvis Presley

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

Source: Animal Farm | Author: George Orwell

"Always be closing."

Source: Glengarry Glen Ross | Speaker: Blake

"And now for something completely different."

Source: Monty Python's Flying Circus | Speaker: The Announcer

"And they brought us whole binders full of women."

Source: 2012 Presidential Debate | Speaker: Mitt Romney

"And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two."

Source: Matthew 5:41 | Author: Matthew

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

Source: The Book of Isaiah | Author: The Prophet Isaiah

"As long as the heart beats, as long as body and soul keep together."

Source: Journey to the Center of the Earth | Author: Jules Verne

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

Source: The Dalai Lama's visit to Capitol Hill | Speaker: Dalai Lama

"Be men, or be more than men."

Source: Frankenstein | Author: Mary Shelley

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

Source: Matthew 7:15 | Speaker: Jesus

"Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth."

Source: Leviticus 24:20 | Author: Moses

"Clear as crystal"

Source: Revelation 21:11 | Author: John of Patmos

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Source: Matthew 11:28 | Speaker: Jesus

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."

Source: Henry Ford's Marketing Team | Speaker: Henry Ford

"Do not call for Black power or green power. Call for brain power."

Source: Campus Speeches, Quoted in the Chicago Tribune | Author: Barbara Jordan

"Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"

Source: Battle of Bunker Hill | Speaker: William Prescott

"Don't mess with the bull, young man."

Source: The Breakfast Club | Speaker: Mr. Vernon

"Earn this. Earn it."

Source: Saving Private Ryan | Speaker: Captain James Miller

"Eat, drink, and be merry."

Source: Luke 12:19 | Author: Luke

"Et tu, Brute?"

Source: Unknown | Speaker: Julius Caesar

"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement."

Source: Henry Ford's Marketing Team | Speaker: Henry Ford

"First rule of Fight Club is... you do not talk about Fight Club."

Source: Fight Club | Speaker: Tyler Durden

"Four score and seven years ago…"

Source: The Gettysburg Address | Author: Abraham Lincoln

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

Source: Critique of the Gotha Program | Author: Karl Marx

"Get thee behind me, Satan"

Source: Matthew 16:23 | Speaker: Jesus

"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

Source: Matthew 7:6 | Speaker: Jesus

"Go ahead. Make my day."

Source: Sudden Impact | Speaker: Dirty Harry

"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions."

Source: Unknown | Speaker: Dalai Lama

"Have a vision. Be demanding."

Source: It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership | Author: Colin Powell

"He heals the brokenhearted."

Source: Psalm 147:3 | Author: The Psalmist

"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Source: The Gospel of John | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Source: Stars Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | Speaker: Princess Leia Organa

"Hitler didn't snub me—it was our president who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram."

Source: A Republican Rally in Baltimore, Maryland | Speaker: Jesse Owens

"Hurry up and bring your jukebox money!"

Source: "Love Shack" | Speaker: The B-52's

"I am a golden god."

Source: Almost Famous | Speaker: Russell Hammond

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly"

Source: John 10:10 | Author: Unknown

"I am definitely a mad man with a box."

Source: Doctor Who | Speaker: Eleventh Doctor

"I am not a crook"

Source: Televised Press Conference | Speaker: Richard Nixon

"I am not afraid; I was born to do this."

Source: Spoken as she left the town of Vancouleurs | Speaker: Joan of Arc

"I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!"

Source: Batman: The Animated Series | Speaker: Batman

"I can do all things through Christ."

Source: Philippians 4:13 | Author: Paul

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

Source: Televised Press Conference | Speaker: Bill Clinton

"I have a dream"

Source: "I Have a Dream" Speech | Speaker: Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I have not yet begun to fight."

Source: Spoken on September 23, 1779 | Speaker: Captain John Paul Jones

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Source: Apocalypse Now | Speaker: Bill Kilgore

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."

Source: 1780 Letter | Author: John Adams

"I sing of arms and the man"

Source: Aeneid | Author: Virgil

"I think that I may be the voice of my generation. Or at least a voice. Of a generation."

Source: Girls | Speaker: Hannah Horvath

"I would rather be with the people of this town than with the finest people in the world."

Source: Roxanne | Speaker: Mayor Deebs

"I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules."

Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith

"I'm a smart, strong, sensual woman."

Source: Bob's Burgers | Speaker: Tina Belcher

"I'm here to fight for truth and justice and the American Way."

Source: Superman | Speaker: Superman

"I'm Spartacus!"

Source: Spartacus | Speaker: Antonius

"I'm the ghost with the most, babe."

Source: Beetlejuice | Speaker: Beetlejuice

"If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?"

Source: "Kryptonite" | Speaker: 3 Doors Down

"If it weren't for graft, you'd get a very low type of people in politics."

Source: The Great McGinty | Speaker: Skeeters

"If they move, kill 'em."

Source: The Wild Bunch | Speaker: Pike Bishop

"If you're a prince, there's hope for every ape in Africa."

Source: The Lion in Winter | Speaker: Prince Geoffrey

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Source: Proverbs 3:6 | Author: King Solomon

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Source: Matthew 28:19 | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

Source: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | Author: J.K. Rowling

"It was as though some huge force were pressing down upon you […] persuading you, almost, to deny the evidence of your senses."

Source: 1984 | Author: George Orwell

"It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring."

Source: Matthew 16:2-3 | Author: Matthew

"It's good to be the king."

Source: The History of the World: Part I | Speaker: King Louis XVI

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me."

Source: Batman Begins | Speaker: Batman

"I’d rather be a hammer than a nail"

Source: "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" | Speaker: Simon and Garfunkel

"Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?"

Source: The Gospel of Luke | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

Source: Trade Mart speech (undelivered) | Speaker: John F. Kennedy

"Let my people go"

Source: Exodus 5:1 | Author: Moses

"Let the sky fall. When it crumbles, we will stand tall."

Source: "Skyfall" | Speaker: Adele

"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

Source: Matthew 15:14 | Author: Matthew

"Let's be careful out there."

Source: Hill Street Blues | Speaker: Sergeant Phil Esterhaus

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Source: The Declaration of Independence | Author: Thomas Jefferson

"Love is patient; love is kind."

Source: 1 Corinthians 13:4 | Author: Paul of Tarsus

"Make it so."

Source: Star Trek: The Next Generation | Speaker: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

"Mankind must put an end to war—or war will put an end to mankind."

Source: Address to the UN General Assembly (1961) | Speaker: John F. Kennedy

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

Source: Snow White | Speaker: The Evil Queen

"Mr. Christian!"

Source: Mutiny on the Bounty | Speaker: Captain Bligh

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

Source: Speech to the House of Commons, August 20, 1940 | Speaker: Winston Churchill

"No man is good enough to govern any woman without her consent."

Source: The annual convention of the California State Suffrage Association | Speaker: Susan B. Anthony

"No prisoners! No prisoners!"

Source: Lawrence of Arabia | Speaker: T.E. Lawrence

"Of course he has a knife. He always has a knife."

Source: The Lion in Winter | Speaker: Eleanor of Aquitaine

"Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die."

Source: Speech to the 23rd Republican National Convention (June 1944) | Speaker: Herbert Hoover

"Our long national nightmare is over."

Source: Inaugural Address, September 9, 1974 | Speaker: President Gerald Ford

"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Source: Problems of War and Strategy | Speaker: Mao Zedong

"Put the sword back into its place. All those who use the sword will die by the sword."

Source: Matthew 26:52 | Speaker: Jesus

"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's."

Source: Luke 20:25 | Author: Luke

"Round up the usual suspects."

Source: Casablanca | Speaker: Captain Renault

"See eye to eye."

Source: Isaiah 52:8 | Author: Isaiah

"See that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Source: The Gospel of Matthew | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth

"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

Source: 1988 Vice Presidential Debate | Speaker: Lloyd Bentsen

"Shut up and deal."

Source: The Apartment | Speaker: Fran Kubelik

"Stay gold, Ponyboy."

Source: The Outsiders | Author: S.E. Hinton

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me."

Source: The Gospel of Matthew | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth

"The end justifies the means."

Source: The Prince | Author: Niccoló Machiavelli

"The Fuhrer was a terrific dancer."

Source: The Producers | Speaker: Franz Liebkind

"The king…has returned."

Source: The Lion King | Speaker: Rafiki

"The list is an absolute good. The list is life."

Source: Schindler's List | Speaker: Itzhak Stern

"The Lord is my shepherd"

Source: Psalm 23:1 | Author: King David

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Source: FDR's Inauguration Speech | Speaker: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"The powers that be are ordained of God."

Source: Romans 13:1 | Author: Paul

"The President—whoever he is—has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody."

Source: Farewell Address (1953) | Speaker: Harry S. Truman

"The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe! You have to make it fall."

Source: Libération | Speaker: Che Guevara

"The scapegoat, shall be presented alive."

Source: Leviticus 16:10 | Author: Moses

"The truth is...I am Iron Man."

Source: Iron Man | Speaker: Tony Stark

"The truth shall set you free."

Source: John 8:32 | Speaker: Jesus

"There are no men like me. Only me."

Source: Game of Thrones | Speaker: Jaime Lannister

"There can be only one."

Source: Highlander | Speaker: The Kurgan

"There is no such thing [as society]!"

Source: Interview with Woman's Own magazine in 1987 | Speaker: Margaret Thatcher

"There never was a good war, or a bad peace."

Source: 1783 Letter | Author: Benjamin Franklin

"There you go again."

Source: Presidential debate on on October 28, 1980 | Speaker: Ronald Reagan

"Things don't happen, they are made to happen."

Source: University of North Dakota Address | Speaker: John F. Kennedy

"This is the people's war!"

Source: Mrs. Miniver | Speaker: The Vicar

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."

Source: Misquote | Speaker: Alexander Hamilton

"Time for the charm bomb to explode."

Source: Bob's Burgers | Speaker: Tina Belcher

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart."

Source: Proverbs 3:5 | Author: King Solomon

"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."

Source: 1984 | Author: George Orwell

"We are the champions, my friends, and we'll keep on fighting 'til the end."

Source: We Are the Champions | Speaker: Queen

"We have met the enemy and they are ours."

Source: Letter to William Henry Harrison | Author: Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry

"We must guard against […] unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."

Source: Eisenhower's Farewell Address | Speaker: Dwight Eisenhower

"We shall never surrender."

Source: We Shall Fight on the Beaches speech (June 1940) | Speaker: Winston Churchill

"What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?"

Source: Lord of the Flies | Author: William Golding

"What family doesn't have its ups and downs?"

Source: The Lion in Winter | Speaker: Katharine Hepburn

"What we've got here…is failure to communicate."

Source: Cool Hand Luke | Speaker: Captain

"Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

Source: 1984 | Author: George Orwell

"Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it."

Source: Jeremiah 10:19 | Author: Jeremiah

"You better work."

Source: "Supermodel" | Speaker: RuPaul

"You can't handle the truth!"

Source: A Few Good Men | Speaker: Col. Nathan R. Jessup

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Source: Unknown | Author: Mahatma Gandhi

"You must take your place in the Circle of Life."

Source: The Lion King | Speaker: Mufasa

"You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked."

Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith

"You're the sanest man that ever walked into this courtroom."

Source: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | Speaker: Judge May