Every sentence spoken by Napoleon, and every line of his writing, deserves reading, as it is the sense of France.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues – of my comrades in the movement – who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

You know I vowed when I became President not to talk about the loneliest toughest job in the world and I didn’t.

Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.

I realized why directors are such horrible people – in a way – because you want things to be right, and people will just not listen to you, and there is no time to be nice to people, no time to be delicate.

Founding a company is hard. Most of it isn’t smooth. You’ll have to make very hard decisions. You have to fire a few people. Therefore, if you don’t believe in your mission, giving up is easy. The majority of founders give up. But the best founders don’t give up.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity.

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.

Presidents quickly realize that while a single act might destroy the world they live in, no one single decision can make life suddenly better or can turn history around for the good.

I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people – one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion’s den. You can’t just play around with all those big cats – you’ve got to take somebody on.

Oh, the difference between nearly right and exactly right.

You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, ‚I really like your tie.‘

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.

When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.

Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.

Positional leaders ignore the fact that every person has hopes, dreams, desires, and goals of his own. And leaders must bring their vision and the aspirations of the people they lead together in a way that benefits everyone.

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.

I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.

We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times… and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

He shines in the second rank, who is eclipsed in the first.

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them.

It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.

Clever tyrants are never punished.

Romney and Ryan would do a much better job running the country, and that’s what everybody needs to know.

Instead of being critical of people in authority over you and envious of their position, be happy you’re not responsible for everything they have to do. Instead of piling on complaints, thank them for what they do. Overwhelm them with encouragement and appreciation!

The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.

I’m no leader; I’m a little humble follower.

When you want a thing done, ‚Don’t do it yourself‘ is a good motto for Scoutmasters.

A lot has happened over the years. And while this nation has been tested by war, and it’s been tested by recession and all manner of challenges – I stand before you again tonight, after almost two terms as your president, to tell you I am more optimistic about the future of America than ever before.

There’s many a man has more hair than wit.

Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamor for, a leader.

Joan of Arc had style. Jesus had style.

In Paris, you’re as far as possible from the land of pleasant smiles.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.

I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

The worst disease which can afflict executives in their work is not, as popularly supposed, alcoholism; it’s egotism.

There is no great genius without some touch of madness.

If we had more hell in the pulpit, we would have less hell in the pew.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

A President’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.

When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place. So, what we view our role as, is giving people that power.

Look, when you’re the president, there’s all kinds of things said about us. I mean, it’s just the nature of the job.

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.

We don’t believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans.

Men always want to be a woman’s first love – women like to be a man’s last romance.

I think I was identified as a failed president because I wasn’t re-elected.

To me, a leader is someone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding potential in people and processes. And so what I think is really important is sustainability.

The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency.

The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master.