The quality I look for most is optimism: especially optimism in the face of reverses and apparent defeat.
You are always wanting me to give up something. What do you want me to give up now?
Loneliness is the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make the decisions is assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out confidently and in expectation of success.
Alexander von Humboldt·1799People often say that I'm curious about too many things at once. But can you really forbid a man from harboring a desire to know and embrace everything that surrounds him?
James Cook·1774I whose ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go.
Søren Kierkegaard·1844To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.
