Leadership is a quality that is cherished in the military. It takes a special person to be able to lead others through tough times and help them reach their goals. There are many famous military quotes about leadership that can inspire you to become the best leader you can be. Here are 43 of the most inspiring military quotes about leadership.
These quotes come from some of the most successful military leaders in history like Douglas MacArthur and General Colin Powell, so you know they know a thing or two about what it takes to be a great leader! Use these quotes as motivation and advice on your journey to becoming an outstanding leader. Let them guide you as you work hard to develop your own leadership skills.
I hope you enjoy these military quotes…
1) “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” – Douglas MacArthur
2) “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” – Douglas MacArthur
3) “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” – Douglas MacArthur
4) “Although a soldier by profession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it, except as a means of peace.” – Ulysses S. Grant
5) “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” – Paulo Coelho
6) “Being brave means knowing that when you fail, you don’t fail forever.” – Lana Del Rey
7) “Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
8) “Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.” – Franklin P. Jones
9) “You’ve changed me forever. And I’ll never forget you.” – Kiera Cass
Words of wisdom…
10) “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” – Maya Angelou
11) “Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success for the weak and esteem for all.” – George Washington
12) “Fortune favors the brave.” – Terence
13) “I may not have been the best combat commander, but I always strove to be. My men depended on me to carefully analyze every tactical situation, to maximize the resources that I had at my disposal, to think under pressure, and then to lead them by personal example.” – Major Dick Winters
14) “If officers desire to have control over their commands, they must remain habitually with them, industriously attend to their instruction and comfort, and in battle lead them well.” – Stonewall Jackson
15) “It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor. Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity.” – Horace
16) “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings
17) “I don’t know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they terrify me.” – The Duke of Wellington
18) “Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision: its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, more a matter of accurate calculation, of statistics, of methods, timetables and routine; its practice is a science. Managers are necessary; leaders are essential.” – Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim, Governor General of Australia
19) “I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.” – Jim Mattis
A strong quote from a powerful man…
20) “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
21) “The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch their leaders’ actions. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.” – General Colin Powell
22) “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
23) “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.” – Calvin Coolidge
24) “Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
25) “Out of every hundred men, ten should not even be there; eighty are just targets, nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one is a warrior who will bring the others back.” – Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher
26) “Owning the facts is a prerequisite to leadership. But there are millions of technocrats out there with lots of facts in their quivers and little leadership potential. In many cases, what they are missing is empathy. No one is a leader who can’t put himself or herself in the other person’s shoes. Empathy and expertise command respect.” – Lieutenant General, William Pagonis
27) “We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.” – George Orwell
Military Quotes by Winston Churchill
28) “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
29) “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” – Winston Churchill
30) “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
31) “There are far better things ahead than we ever leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis
32) “This will remain the land of the free so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
33) “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” – Alexander Hamilton
34) “To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” – Andre Malraux
35) “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him but because he loves what is behind him.” – G.K. Chesterton
36) “The truth is that you always know the right thing to do. The tough part is doing it.” – General Norman Schwarzkopf
37) “To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” – Andre Malraux
38) “Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine.” – Chris Hadfield, Astronaut
39) “War is too important to be left to the generals.” – Georges Clémenceau
Military Quotes
40) “When things go wrong in your command, start wading for the reason in increasingly larger concentric circles around your own desk.” – General Bruce D. Clark
41) “We live in a world that has walls, and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns.” – Aaron Sorkin
42) “Who dares, wins. Who sweats, wins. Who plans, wins.” – British Special Air Service (SAS)
43) “You manage things; you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington.” – Rear Adm. Grace Murray Hooper
Please share these military quotes with your friends and family.
