James MacGregor Burns Quotes

"Woodrow Wilson called for leaders who, by boldly interpreting the nation's conscience, could lift a people out of their everyday selves. That people can be lifted into their better selves is the secret of transforming leadership."
- James MacGregor Burns
(Related: Leadership, People, Conscience, Nation)

"In real life, the most practical advice for leaders is not to treat pawns like pawns, nor princes like princes, but all persons like persons."
- James MacGregor Burns
(Related: Life, Advice, Leaders)

"Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique."
- James MacGregor Burns
(Related: Leadership, Politics, Management, Ethics)

"A revolution is an act of violence whereby one class shatters the authority of another."
- James MacGregor Burns
(Related: Act, Authority, Class, Revolution, Violence)