John W. Gardner Quotes

The Ablest And Most Effective Leaders Do Not Hold To A Single Style; They May Be Highly Supportive In Personal Relations When That Is Needed, Yet Capable Of A Quick, Authoritative Decision When The Situation Requires It.

Paralysis Of Leadership Is Due In Part To The Unseen Grip Of The Special Interests.

Americans Have Always Believed That-within The Law-all Kinds Of People Should Be Allowed To Take The Initiative In All Kinds Of Activities. And Out Of That Pluralism Has Come Virtually All Of Our Creativity. Freedom Is Real Only To The Extent That There Are Diverse Alternatives.

If Our Society Continues At Its Present Rate To Become Less Livable As It Becomes More Affluent, We Promise All To End Up In Sumptuous Misery.

Storybook Happiness Involves Every Form Of Pleasant Thumb-twiddling; True Happiness Involves The Full Use Of One's Powers And Talents.

Nothing Can Be More Readily Disproved Than The Old Saw, "you Can't Keep A Good Man Down." Most Human Societies Have Been Beautifully Organized To Keep Good Men Down.

In The United States, To An Unprecedented Degree, The Individual's Social Role Has Come To Be Determined Not By Who He Is But By What He Can Accomplish.

Mastery Is Not Something That Strikes In An Instant, Like A Thunderbolt, But A Gathering Power That Moves Steadily Through Time, Like Weather.

All That We Know About The Interaction Between Leaders And Constituents Or Followers Tells Us That Communication And Influence Flow In Both Directions; And In That Two-way Communication, Nonrational, Nonverbal, And Unconscious Elements Play Their Part.

Excellence Implies Striving For The Highest Standards In Every Phase Of Life.

One Generalization That Is Supported Both By Research And Experience Is That Effective Two-way Communication Is Essential To Proper Functioning Of The Leader-follower Relationship.

The [nonprofit] Sector Is The Natural Home Of Nonmajoritarian Impulses, Movements And Values. It Comfortably Harbors Innovators, Maverick Movements, Groups Which Feel They Must Fight For Their Place In The Sun, And Critics Of Both Liberal Conservative Persuasion.