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Leadership quotes, traced to their sources
Lines from leaders, thinkers and classic texts — each one credited to the person and work it comes from, with the context you need to use it well.
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Lead briefingLeadership Quotes For Work
Change Management Quotes for Leaders: 21 Sourced Lines for Every Stage
Change management quotes checked at the source, sorted by moment: the case for change, pushback, the messy middle. Plus 7 famous lines with shaky credits.
Also new on the desk
Leadership Quotes For Work
Quotes About Excellence: 17 Sourced Lines, From Aristotle to Lombardi
Leadership Quotes For Work
Mentor and Mentee Quotes: 20 Lines With Sources, From the Original Mentor to Today
Servant Leadership Quotes
Quotes About Serving Others: 13 Sourced Lines, and Who First Said "Service Is the Rent We Pay"
Servant Leadership Quotes
Servant Leadership Examples: 9 Leaders, What They Did, and Their Own Words
On the record
Lines our editors traced to a source
Whenever smart and well-intentioned people avoid confronting obstacles, they disempower employees and undermine change.
— John P. Kotter, Leading Change (1996; p. 10 in the 2013 edition), via Wikiquote
Quoted in Change Management Quotes for Leaders: 21 Sourced Lines for Every Stage
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
— Proverbs 22:29, King James Version, Project Gutenberg
Quoted in Quotes About Excellence: 17 Sourced Lines, From Aristotle to Lombardi
That having been often displeased with Rusticus, I never did him anything for which afterwards I had occasion to repent.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations I.17, Casaubon translation, Project Gutenberg
Quoted in Mentor and Mentee Quotes: 20 Lines With Sources, From the Original Mentor to Today
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From the desk
Servant Leadership QuotesServant Leadership Bible Verses: 18 KJV Passages and the Story Behind Each
18 servant leadership Bible verses (KJV), from Mark 10 and John 13 to Rehoboam and Nehemiah, each with its story and a use note, plus 3 commonly misread.
Leadership Quotes For WorkEnd of Year Quotes for Work: 23 Sourced Lines for the Last Meeting, the Year-End Note and January
23 end of year quotes for work, from Dickens and Tennyson to Bible verses, sorted by moment and traced to their sources, plus 11 year-end misquotes fixed.
Famous Leadership QuotesNietzsche Quotes on Leadership: 22 Lines Traced to His Books, With the German Original
22 Nietzsche quotes on leadership, power and self-command, each cited by book and section, with the German original and 7 popular lines checked.
Leadership Quotes For WorkActive Listening Quotes: 23 Lines for Leaders, From the 1957 Booklet That Named It to the Bible
23 active listening quotes for leaders and managers, from Rogers and Mandela to Bible verses, each traced to its source, plus 10 listening misquotes fixed.
Leadership Quotes For WorkHard Decision Quotes: 21 Lines for Leaders Making a Tough Call, Each Traced to Its Source
21 hard decision quotes for leaders, from Caesar and Drucker to Bezos and the Bible, each traced to its source, plus a 4-question check and 10 misquotes.
Famous Leadership QuotesJohn Maxwell Leadership Quotes: 13 Lines Traced to His Books, Plus 9 He Borrowed
13 John Maxwell leadership quotes checked against his books, with edition and year, the 21 qualities and 5 levels, plus 9 famous lines he borrowed.
Leadership Quotes For WorkWork Ethic Quotes: 18 Sourced Lines, From Hesiod and Proverbs to Kobe Bryant
18 work ethic quotes traced to their sources, from Hesiod and the Bible to Edison, Ali and Kobe Bryant, plus 6 hard-work lines that carry the wrong name.
Leadership Quotes For WorkEmotional Intelligence Quotes for Leaders: 15 Sourced Lines, From Aristotle to Goleman
15 emotional intelligence quotes for leaders, each traced to its source and sorted by Goleman's five components, plus 7 lines that carry the wrong name.
Leadership Quotes For WorkQuotes About Bad Leadership: 12 Sourced Lines on Toxic, Weak and Corrupt Leaders
12 quotes about bad leadership, traced to their sources and sorted by type: corrupt, rigid, toxic and weak leaders, micromanagers, plus 6 misattributions.
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Each piece starts as an AI-assisted draft built around a question readers actually ask.
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The Lead With Quotes editors check, cut and correct every draft before it is published, and sign it as a desk.
Quotes credited to a source
Quotations name the person and the work they come from; contested attributions are flagged.