As leaders of our country, presidents have shared and demonstrated their wisdom and experiences. Here’s a collection of inspiring quotes that will motivate you to be a better leader in your community.
1. George Washington (1789-1797)
“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
2. John Adams (1797-1801)
“You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen.”
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
“On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
4. James Madison (1809-1817)
“The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.”
5. James Monroe (1817-1825)
“A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue.”
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
“Try and fail, but don’t fail to try.”
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
“Take the time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”
8. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t.”
9. William Henry Harrison (1841)
“There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power.”
10. John Tyler (1841-1845)
“Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings of industry and the savings of frugality.”
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849)
“May the boldest fear and the wisest tremble when incurring responsibilities on which may depend our country’s peace and prosperity, and in some degree the hopes and happiness of the whole human family.”
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
“I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.”
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
“An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.”
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
“You don’t know what you can miss before you try.”
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861)
“The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.”
16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
“Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.”
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
“If you always support the correct principles then you will never get the wrong results!”
18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can and keep moving on.”
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
“Every expert was once a beginner.”
20. James A. Garfield (1881)
“There are men and women who make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They have the gift of kindness or courage or loyalty or integrity. It really matters very little whether they are behind the wheel of a truck or running a business or bringing up a family. They teach the truth by living it.”
21. Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885)
“Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. Let everyone know that you have a reserve in yourself; that you have more power than you are now using. If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.”
22. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) (1893-1897)
“It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing subterfuge.”
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
“I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or women who produces the cloth will starve in the process.”
24. Grover Cleveland
“Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement.”
25. William McKinley (1897-1901)
“In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.”
26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
27. William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
“We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.”
28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
“The object of love is to serve, not to win.”
29. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
“There’s good in everybody. Boost. Don’t knock.”
30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not… Genius will not… Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
31. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
“Be patient and calm; no one can catch a fish with anger.”
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
“The Chinese use two brush stroked to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger but recognize the opportunity.”
36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
37. Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
“Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself.”
38. Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977)
“Never be satisfied with less than your very best effort. If you strive for the top and miss, you’ll still ‘beat the pack.’”
39. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
“Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.”
41. George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
“A volunteer is a person who can see what others cannot see; who can feel what most do not feel. Often, such gifted persons do not think of themselves as volunteers, but as citizens – citizens in the fullest sense: partners in civilization.”
42. Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
“We all do better when we work together. Our differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more.”
43. George W. Bush (2001-2009)
“Life takes its own turns, makes its own demands, writes its own story, and along the way, we start to realize we are not the author.”
44. Barack Obama
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”