109 Military Leadership Quotes

Following is our list of military leadership quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about military command.

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Famous Military Leadership Quotes

Leadership requires belief in the mission and unyielding perseverance to achieve victory. — Jocko Willink

A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops. — John J. Pershing

the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril. — Sun Tzu

Good generals select intelligent officers, thoughtful advisors, and brave subordinates. They oversee their troops like a fierce tiger with wings. — Zhuge Liang

The nature of encounter operations required of the commanders limitless initiative and constant readiness to take the responsibility for military actions. — Georgy Zhukov

A good soldier, whether he leads a platoon or an army, is expected to look backward as well as forward; but he must think only forward. — Douglas MacArthur

The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow. — Colin Powell

Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head. — Euripides

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time. — George W. Bush

Diversity in counsel, unity in command. — Cyrus the Great

Leadership is a two-way street, loyalty up and loyalty down. Respect for one's superiors; care for one's crew. — Grace Hopper

A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him. — Douglas MacArthur

Character matters; leadership descends from character. — Rush Limbaugh

My four years in the Marine Corps left me with an indelible understanding of the value of leadership skills. — Frederick W. Smith

The leader sees leadership as responsibility rather than as rank and privilege. - Peter Drucker

The leader sees leadership as responsibility rather than as rank and privilege. — Peter Drucker

Short Military Leadership Quotes

  • He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle
  • A compliance with the minutiae of military courtesy is a mark of well-disciplined troops. — John A. Lejeune
  • Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. — John F. Kennedy
  • A military coup needs a sacrifice and courage that you can't find in an army without morale. — Jalal Talabani
  • Leadership is demonstrated at the moment of need. You learn to be a leader by acting, by doing — Carlos Ghosn
  • Education is the mother of leadership. — Wendell L. Willkie
  • The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. — Colin Powell
  • Leadership is not for the faint of heart — Bill Hybels
  • War is much too serious a thing to be left to military men. — Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Military Leadership Image Quotes

Military leadership quote A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compas
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.

Military Leader Quotes

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. — George S. Patton

Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience. — Colin Powell

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances. — George S. Patton

Military leadership quote Be a leader by example. Be confident and humble. Love the unloved.
Be a leader by example. Be confident and humble. Love the unloved.

The drums of a World War are beating. Beware of the military-industrial complex and the warmongers who exploit tragedy to advocate for more war. A global war would lead to immeasurable suffering. Diplomacy, conversation between leaders is the way out. — Lex Fridman

You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. - Theodore Hesburgh

You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. — Theodore Hesburgh

I am a military police officer and I have served on two deployments my first was to Iraq, in a medical unit, and my second deployment was to Kuwait, as a military police platoon leader. — Tulsi Gabbard

Military leadership quote Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.
Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.

Tell the Truth, and speak from your pay-grade. Don't try to answer questions that would better be directed to the battalion commander or Gen. William Westmoreland or President Lyndon Johnson. If you are a squad leader, answer questions about what you know and do. — Hal Moore

Everywhere that the struggle for national freedom has triumphed, once the authorities agreed, there were military coups d'etat that overthrew their leaders. That is the result time and time again. — Ahmed Ben Bella

A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible. — Polybius

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. — Sun Tzu

Military Command Quotes

Those who were adept and brave fellows I have made military commanders. Those who were quick and nimble I have made herders of horses. Those who were not adept I have given a small whip and sent to be shepherds — Genghis Khan

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes. — Andrew Carnegie

The commander must decide how he will fight the battle before it begins. He must then decide who he will use the military effort at his disposal to force the battle to swing the way he wishes it to go; he must make the enemy dance to his tune from the beginning and not vice versa. — Bernard Law Montgomery

Military leadership quote Leadership is an action, not a position.
Leadership is an action, not a position.

But courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility. — Erwin Rommel

To say that you now trust the Russian military command and control system because some Russian general told you from the bottom of his heart that's the case, strikes me as most unrealistic. — William Odom

To say that you now trust the Russian military command and control system because some Russian general told you from the bottom of his heart that's the case, strikes me as most unrealistic. — William Eldridge Odom

Military leadership quote Leadership simply begins with the courage to be yourself. So everyone else can be, too.
Leadership simply begins with the courage to be yourself. So everyone else can be, too.

Renown awaits the commander who first restores artillery to its prime importance on the battlefield. — Winston Churchill

Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses. — Juvenal

Don't say it's impossible! Turn your command over to the next officer. If he can't do it, I'll find someone who can, even if I have to take him from the ranks! — Stonewall Jackson

To conquer the command in the air means victory; to be beaten in the air means defeat. — Giulio Douhet

Military Training Quotes

The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training. — Erwin Rommel

I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them. — Nelson Mandela

Their notion of training was to march the men up and down in parades and reviews: these were nice to look at and gave them the impression of military discipline and precision, but as a preparation for a modern war they had no value whatsoever. — Orlando Figes

They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines. — Thomas Holcomb

I'd learned a lot in the Army. I knew that above all things in the world I had to become so big, so strong that people and their hatred could never touch me. — Sammy Davis, Jr.

A modern, autonomous, and thoroughly trained Air Force in being at all times will not alone be sufficient, but without it there can be no national security. — Henry H. Arnold

The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you. — Ernest K. Gann

I'm convinced my cockroaches have military training, I set off a roach bomb - they diffused it. — Jay London

The military is a very cool world to write about. I went down to Ft. Benning, Ga., for military training, and I learned a lot about soldiers and officers and why they joined up and what their life has been like. — David Baldacci

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it. — Louis Simpson

Political Leadership Quotes

It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. — Benjamin Franklin

We're not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are going to tell the truth - not most days, but every day. — Ann Richards

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself-and possibly teh bogey man. — Pat Paulsen

It is not power that corrupts but fear. - Aung San Suu Kyi

It is not power that corrupts but fear. — Aung San Suu Kyi

The only difference I ever found between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership is that one of them is skinning you from the ankle up and the other, from the ear down. — Huey Long

When we get a chance to take part in elections, I am ready to fight for leading positions, including in the presidential vote. — Alexei Navalny

I think we're due for younger presidents. I'm tired of them always being in their 70s. — MrBeast

You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it. - Boris Yeltsin

You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it. — Boris Yeltsin

If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system.That's much more powerful than rebelling outside the system. — Marie Lu

The best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. — Harry S. Truman

People Writing About Military Leadership

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Read quotes by Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur
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Colin Powell
quotes on leadership, war and friendship

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Read quotes by Jocko Willink

Jocko Willink
quotes on leadership, life and ownership

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Read quotes by John J. Pershing

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Read quotes by Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu
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Read quotes by Zhuge Liang

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More Military Leadership Quotes

I made efforts to swallow tears and to protect the species of the Japanese nation. — Hirohito

Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks. — Alexander Suvorov

Once upon a time our traditional goal in war and can anyone doubt that we are at war? - was victory. Once upon a time we were proud of our strength, our military power. Now we seem ashamed of it. Once upon a time the rest of the world looked to us for leadership. Now they look to us for a quick handout and a fence-straddling international posture. — Barry Goldwater

Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down. — James Mattis

Following is one of the most underrated aspects of leadership.... I have seen many a good [military unit] underachieve, because someone...thought the commander was incompetent, and quietly worked to undermine his authority. — William H. McRaven

Our military deserves leadership that matches their service and patriotism. Getting our troops the pay raise they deserve is the very least we can do to show how much we value everything they do for us. — John F. Kerry

It was when I entered the military preparatory school and put on its uniform, that a feeling of strength came to me, as if I had become master of my own destiny. — Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

A leader is the man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do, and like it. — Harry S. Truman

America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

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

The First Lady and I both spotted the President standing under the mistletoe and she moved in to grab a kiss from him following a dinner for Combatant Commanders and military leadership at Blair House in Washington, D.C. — Pete Souza

If you look at the way Donald Trump has treated law enforcement, if you look at the way he's treated the military, this is a man who fully understands the burden of leadership and the responsibility he has as the commander in chief. — Sebastian Gorka

My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together. — Colin Powell

Most people associate command and control leadership with the military. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We need a president who will lead with a stronger, more consistent foreign policy. We also need our commander in chief to put more faith in military leadership who have all of the combat experience. It’s bad policy to try to micromanage too much operationally and tactically from a desk in the Oval Office. — Lee Zeldin

Half a world away nations that once lived under oppression and tyranny are now budding democracies due in large part to America 's leadership and the sacrifices of our military. — Bob Riley

World War II had been such a tremendous success story for this country that the political and military leadership began to assume that they would prevail simply because of who they were. We were like the British at the turn of the 19th century. — Neil Sheehan

Military school was great and especially great for leadership and then I spent two years in Vietnam. — Robert Kiyosaki

The demands of leadership have changed. The highest levels if leadership require mastery of a new task: job creation. Traditional leadership through politics, military force, religion, or personal values won't work in the future like it has in the past. — Jim Clifton

Today, America can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam... These events, tragic as they are, portend neither the end of the world nor of America's leadership in the world. — Gerald R. Ford

I have great faith in the military. I have great faith in certain of the commanders, certainly. But I have no faith in Hillary Clinton or the leadership. — Donald Trump

According to other writers, it is the women who last longest in sieges, the young men who soonest fall into that deadly lethargy that precedes actual death. But the account is accurate enough: that is what a siege is like. Moreover, that is what it is meant to be like. When a city is encircled and deprived of food, it is not the expectation of the attackers that the garrison will hold out until individual soldiers... drop dead in the streets. The death of ordinary inhabitants of the city is expected to force the hand of the civilian or military leadership. The goal is surrender; the means is not the defeat of the enemy army, but the fearful spectacle of the civilian dead. — Michael Walzer

We had a military and political leadership at that period which was genuinely deluded. — Neil Sheehan

The Kurds' achievement was outstanding, both militarily and diplomatically. European governments recognized this and abandoned their resistance to weapons deliveries. Germany, too, acted correctly. Now, we need a joint military leadership so that the Kurds and the army can retake Mosul. — Ahmed Chalabi

We can't, you know, use our military to make sure the planet doesn't get warmer. And so that kind of leadership, of being able to bring people together, to apply practical commonsense solutions based on facts, based on science, based on what works you know, that's been the approach I have taken consistently as a public servant. That's the kind of style that I think we need in the presidency right now. — Barack Obama

I personally found Donald Trump's praise for Vladimir Putin troubling or even chilling, frankly. In a room full of military veterans, to be effusing about his great leadership and how strong he is and how popular he is, while disrespecting the American president and American generals, I don't know. That was, I think, not just troubling to me, but to a lot of listeners and I think, frankly, to a lot of Republican listeners as well. — Philip Gordon

When President Bush sees America, he sees only a military superpower. I see a moral and idealistic beacon. Mr. Bush may talk about democracy all he wants, but it is not democracy to wilfully disdain and heap scorn on world opinion. We do not command moral leadership by starting pre-emptive wars. — John F. Kerry

It would seem to be the case that pressure on Iran to acquire nuclear weapons is almost totally driven by their need for a deterrent capability to avoid the fate of Iraq, Libya. The use of American military force in Syria thus sends exactly the opposite message as supposedly desired to the leadership in Tehran - and to others. North Korea has been dealt with diplomatically because it has the bomb and might use it if provoked. — Richard A. Falk

We do have special forces, we do have trainers, we do have the military personnel who are helping with the airstrikes that the United States is leading so that we can try to take out ISIS infrastructure, take out their leadership. — Hillary Clinton

The cost of an on-site inspection team would be minuscule compared to war, Saddam would have no choice except to comply, the results would be certain, military and civilian casualties would be avoided, there would be almost unanimous worldwide support, and the United States could regain its leadership in combating the real threat of international terrorism. — Jimmy Carter

There is no question in my mind that if we summon our resources, both our leadership resources and all of the tools at our disposal, not just military force, which should be used as a last resort, but our diplomacy, our development aid, law enforcement, sharing of intelligence in a much more open and cooperative way. We can bring people together, but it cannot be an American fight. — Hillary Clinton

You have to have a military and intelligence approach to removing leadership that results in rapid frequent removals from the battlefield. It's got to be one, two a week, not just one or two every three or four months. — Michael Morell

This is a major strategic challenge affecting not only our military, but ultimately, America's leadership in the global world order, we are at a point where our national aspirations are at risk of exceeding our available resources. — Martin Dempsey

In Iraq and Syria, American leadership - including our military power - is stopping ISIL's advance, instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. — Barack Obama

You want to be commander-in-chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient. — Barack Obama

I liked the military life. They teach you self-sufficiency early on. I always say that I learned most of what I know about leadership in the Marine Corps. Certain basic principles stay with you - sometimes consciously, mostly unconsciously. — Raymond Kelly

Go to a nearby military cemetery and look at the American flags stuck on each grave and think of the person buried there who was killed for global domination or for the blunders and egomania of our leadership. And remember, for every person buried there, 10 more loved that person and were shattered by the loss. Instead of saluting, softly say: 'I'm sorry.' ... We need to make Memorial Day a relic of the past. — Cindy Sheehan

To advance from a nuanced dissent to a compelling vision, progressive policymakers should turn to the great mainstay of twentieth-century U.S. foreign policy: liberal internationalism... (which) should offer assertive leadership - diplomatic, economic, and not least, military - to advance a broad array of goals. — Suzanne Nossel

Our Party's Songun-based revolutionary leadership, Songun-based politics, is a revolutionary mode of leadership and socialist mode of politics that gives top priority to military affairs, and defends the country, the revolution and socialism and dynamically pushes ahead with overall socialist construction by dint of the revolutionary mettle and combat capabilities of the People's Army. — Kim Jong Il

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