Inspired like Gandhi: 77 leadership quotes to empower yourself with the right motivation
[5 min read]
Motivation boost needed? Check out the 77 most inspiring sayings of all times.
Everybody, even inspirational leaders like Gandhi, Oprah or Mandela, are in need of a motivational boost once in a while. It is during times of obstacles, self-doubt and challenges that we can turn to our most favourite positive thinkers to stop, reflect and lift our mindset towards a brighter future.
Because we know that time is a precious commodity in our clients’ and readers’ lives, we put together a list of what we believe are the 77 most inspiring leadership quotes of all times:
Stick around. Don’t lose your heart, just keep going, keep at it.
Mark Ruffalo
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.
Michael Jordan
A great leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible.
Mark Yarnell
There will be plenty of other problems in the future. This is as good a time as any to get ahead of them.
Stan Slap
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
Jim Rohn
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
Dr. Seuss
A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn’t like the tune.
Unknown
Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.
Pele
Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Willing is not enough. We must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.
Henry Ford
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
John F. Kennedy
Every journey starts by defining your starting point.
Nicola Cook
There is no failure except in no longer trying.
Elbert Hubbard
Trust is the currency of leadership.
Unknown
The price of greatness is responsibility.
Winston Churchill
Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.
Will Rogers
You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn
Fight for things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Every choice you make has an end result.
Zig Ziglar
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Neale Donald Walsh
What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.
Nelson Mandela
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
Steve Jobs
The best investment you can make is in yourself.
Warren Buffet
Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.
Thomas Dewar
The smallest of actions is always better than the noblest of intentions.
Robin Sharma
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The best angle from which to approach a problem is the Try-angle.
Unknown
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
A negative mind will never give you a positive life.
Ziad K Abdelnour
Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult.
Warren Bennis
The fears we don’t face become our limits.
Robin Sharma
You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.
Charles Boxton
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.
Jack Welch
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
William Bruce Cameron
You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you…
W. Clement Stone
The world needs you now, not when you are ‘perfect’.
Unknown
Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway.
Eleanor Roosevelt
I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.
Stephen R. Covey
The small changes make the biggest difference to your life.
Nicola Cook
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.
Anais Nin
I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times.
Bruce Lee
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
John Maxwell
In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
Og Mandino
Limit your ‘always’ and your ‘nevers’.
Amy Poehler
Life is riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
Henry Ford
To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
Leonard Bernstein
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.
Ayn Rand
What would you do if you had no fear?
Diane Conway
Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.
Anthony Robbins
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
Helen Keller
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.
Ronald Reagan
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Martin Luther King Jr.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Wayne Gretzky
What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110% all the time.
Don Zimmer
With the right kind of coaching and determination you can accomplish anything.
Reese Witherspoon
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.
Michael Altshuler
Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.
Dr. Seuss
The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.
Tony Blair
We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein
If you’re not sure where you are going, you’re liable to end up someplace else.
Robert F. Mager
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
Maria Robinson
If we always do what we’ve always done, we always get what we’ve always got.
Unknown
If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.
Henry Ford
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right thing.
Peter Drucker
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
Jim Rohn
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
Walt Disney
Be the change that you wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.
Napoleon Hill
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
Nelson Mandela
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
Edmund Hillary
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Alvin Toffler
Leadership is about guidance to a clear vision, unlocking true potential and creating excellence as a result of heightened awareness, accountability and inspiring actions.
Martin Probst (could not help myself…)
Make sure you keep your favourites sayings at hand for when your mind and motivation need a quick pick-me-up; it is guaranteed to quickly boost your mood. We also encourage you to share your own favourite quotes in the comments section. PS: Follow us on Instagram (@profoundlead) to get regular leadership quotes in your news feed)
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AUTHOR
I'm Martin Probst, an award-winning facilitator and the founder of PROfound Leadership. By facilitating 450+ workshops, I've empowered thousands of individuals worldwide to develop essential leadership skills. My dedication have earned me numerous accolades, making me a trusted name in leadership training.
Today, I specialise in delivering practical group training for organisations, supporting mid to senior leaders to navigate human behaviour, build trust and lead with confidence and clarity. My workshops are grounded in human-centred leadership and designed to address the real challenges leaders face when working with people, performance and change.
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