John McCain

Nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause larger than yourself, something that encompasses you but is not defined by your existence alone.

Depriving the oppressed of a beacon of hope could lose us the world we have built and thrived in. It could cost our reputation in history as the nation distinct from all others in our achievements, our identity, and our enduring influence on mankind. Our values are central to all three.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the capacity to act despite our fears.

Americans Never Quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We Make History.

Demographics aren’t destiny. Our culture isn’t the work of one race or religion. To suggest otherwise is to contradict our ideals and to doubt their power.

If you want to preserve – I’m very serious now – if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.

Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?

I have a very simple rule when it comes to management: hire the best people from your competitors, pay them more than they were earning, and give them bonuses and incentives based on their performance. That’s how you build a first-class operation.

But real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.

As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me. The first person that I should try to change is me.

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

Respect people with less power then you. I don’t care if you’re the most powerful cat in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful. So there.

I like to praise and reward in a loud voice and to scold in a whisper.

Leaders who are effective are leaders who are disciplined in their daily lives.

When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.

A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

The very essence of leadership is having vision.

Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

You do your job, you keep your job. Do it well, you get a better job.