For business leaders in the United Country, there’s something comforting about reflecting on the judgments of the heads of our past- the women and men who once stood where we now stand.

Knowing they often faced extraordinary challenges with fewer sources than we have available today helps to reorient our modern perspectives.

Maybe it’s sharing in the sense of hope and opportunity in their commands. Maybe it’s knowing the struggle to reconcile grand feelings with sometimes-tough actualities. Maybe it’s grasping the heavines of their tireless has pledged to a better future.

When we take the time to recall some of the sense of our nation’s past governors, we can find ourselves feeling less alone in our striving for excellence and more prepared to pursue our aim for another day.

Here are 21 American history leadership excerpts to read, remember and reflect on when you need time-honored inspiration.

On mindset

“I cannot do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.”

Helen Keller, instructor and advocate for blind people and deafen who lives from 1880 to 1968. She likewise co-founded the American Civil Liberties Union.

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” The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity .”

Amelia Earhart, first woman to fly a plane across the Atlantic ocean who lived from 1897 to 1939 when she disappeared while flying over the Pacific ocean.

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” Never told the fear of striking out maintenance you from frisking video games .”

Babe Ruth, record-setting baseball player who lived from 1895 to 1948

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“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

Henry Ford, American automobile manufacturer known for creating the Model T in 1908 and pioneering assembly line manufacturing

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“Obstacles are those terrifying things you is displayed when you make your eyes off your goal.”

Henry Ford

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“Don’t sit down and wait for opportunities to come. Get up and become them.”

Madam C.J. Walker, the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire who lived from 1867 to 1919

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On persona and force

” The only person “youre ever” destined to become is the person you decide to be .”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803 to 1882, poet, philosopher and essayist

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” Life is a succession of exercises which is required to lived to be considered .”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“The supreme quality for lead is assuredly integrity.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34 th U.S. chairperson who lived from 1890 to 1969

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“Never do things others can do and will do if there are things others cannot do or will not do.”

Amelia Earhart

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“A sense of humor is part of the prowes of lead, of coming along with people, of coming things done.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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“A single branch interrupts, but the bundle of twigs is strong.”

Tecumseh, Shawnee chief who lived from 1768 to 1813

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On greatnes

” Before anything else, cooking is the key to success .”

Alexander Graham Bell, scientist and founder known for inventing the first working telephone in 1876

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“Big chores usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow tiny ones.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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” Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up .”

Thomas A. Edison, 1847 to 1931, inventor known for creating the first marketable light bulb who also propped more than 1,000 patents

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” Success generally comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it .”

Henry David Thoreau, 1817 to 1862, essayist and poet recollected for his philosophical and ecologist writings

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On spirit

” Go confidently in future directions of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined .”

Henry David Thoreau

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” Do not become where the track may precede, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail .”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Always remember you have within you the forte, the fortitude and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

Harriet Tubman, 1820 to 1913, abolitionist who escaped slavery and cured hundreds more find impunity as a conductor on the Underground Railroad

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“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

Frederick Douglass, 1818 to 1895, abolitionist master, scribe and endorse of women’s rights

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“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the ebb will turn.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, writer and social activist who lived from 1811 -1 896

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Want to direct your motivating from these American history leadership paraphrases into some practical skills you can use today? Download our free publication now: The Insperity guide to leadership and handling .

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