Emerson on political leaders
"Vivacity, leadership, must be had, and we are not allowed to be nice in choosing. We must fetch the pump with dirty water, if clean cannot be had."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Power"
For some, realpolitik is a synonym for evil; for others, it’s the bedrock of a sophisticated foreign policy. The truth is that it’s a word much used but little understood...Cold Dirty River of Politics
Eudora Welty had a simple explanation for her popularity as a speaker: “I’m always on time, and I don’t get drunk or hole up in a hotel with my lover’ The Art Of Speaking
"The leader personifies the certitude of the creed and the defiance and grandeur of power. He articulates and justifies the resentment dammed up in the souls of the frustrated. He kindles the vision of a breath-taking future so as to justify the sacrifice of a transitory present. He stages a world of make-believe so indispensable for the realization of self-sacrifice and united action."
~ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements