Ruthless Leadership Quotes

One has to be a lowbrow, a bit of a murderer, to be a politician, ready and willing to see people sacrificed, slaughtered, for the sake of an idea, whether a good one or a bad one.

Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.

The necessary consequence of an egalitarian program is the decidedly inegalitarian creation of a ruthless power elite.

Well used are those cruelties (if it is permitted to speak well of evil) that are carried out in a single stroke, done out of necessity to protect oneself, and are not continued but are instead converted into the greatest possible benefits for the subjects. Badly used are those cruelties which. although being few at the outset, grow with the passing time instead of disappearing. Those who follow the first method can remedy their condition with God and with men; the others cannot possibly survive.

To be a great autocrat you must be a great barbarian.

… an Attila educated by Machiavelli

Everything Mengistu has done since 1977 has been to place himself in a position of uncontestable power. Neither Haile Selassie nor any of the previous emperors had this insatiable thirst for power.

Stalin and Mao killed over 80 million and did not make omelets despite the broken eggs.

We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.

A ruler must learn to be other than good.

Kallor said: "I walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?" "Yes," said Caladan Brood, "you never learn."

They plan to ride into the White House on the Sweet Talk Express. Well, think again. Bush and Cheney are not compassionate conservatives. They are ruthless reactionaries.

The man whom events had elevated to the position of dictator tirelessly must have been aspiring to power himself, energetically pushing aside and crushing ruthlessly all who stood in his way

I think it's a mistake to view North Korea as a government. It really is more like a criminal syndicate.

I have done many impious things--no great ruler can do otherwise. I have put the good of the Empire before all human considerations. To keep the Empire free from factions I have had to commit many crimes.

As Americans, we want peace - we work and sacrifice for peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the will and whims of a ruthless and aggressive dictator. I'm not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein.

Around him are the riffraff of thick-skinned party leaders. He plays off the half-humans with favours. Forging edict after edict as if they were horseshoes- Shoots some in the forehead, others in the chest, the eye, the groin. Everyday he has an execution -- for our Broadchested Georgian it's like picking raspberries

Vladimir Putin has this animalistic instinct of all dictators: He smells weakness. To quote Winston Churchill's definition of appeasement: "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."

The princes who have done great things are the ones who have taken little account of their promises.

You know Kim Jong Un, the evil dictator of North Korea? Apparently, a guy in his inner circle used his ashtray while smoking and Kim Jong Un had him executed. I remember the same thing happened when a guy used Martha Stewart's personal lemon zester.

I really need a son of a bitch like Huston who will work his butt off and do it dishonorably..

I was only an aspiring dictator. I was never a real dictator.

If you lose money for the firm, I will be forgiving. If you lose reputation, I will be ruthless.

Kings treat men like oranges. They go for the juice, and once they have sucked them dry, they throw them aside.

Donald Rumsfeld is the most ruthless man I have ever met? and I mean that as a compliment.