Paul Keating Quotes

What you want, as an actor, is a great leader. I can't bear it when I work with a director who is wishy-washy and says, "What did you think?"

That very aggressive, unapologetic leadership style is needed in Washington, D.C., and I'm not afraid to tackle big issues.

The key to leadership is having a vision, and being strong enough to say no and not try to please everybody. Thats a recipe for failure. Leadership is practiced through attitude and actions, rather than words and memos.

Anytime you're going to take your Marines into harm's way, they are looking for leadership that is calm, assertive, sure of themselves. And quite honestly, I don't think that some of these young Marines care if it's a male or a female. They just want to be properly led.

The yearning for strong leadership is more about strength of purpose - clarity of vision - than about merely 'getting tough'.

Strong leaders equal strong organizations.

The definition of strong leadership is not about making decisions that are popular. Making popular decisions is easy - you don't need to be a leader to do that. The definition of strong leadership is to make decisions that are unpopular, but are nevertheless sound.

We want very good leaders who have a lot of power.

I think you either have to have a very strong decisive person at the top or else a really brilliant staff command.

Donald Trump is a strong leader.

Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise.

Caution is an important quality in a leader, but it has to be caution followed by decision. Caution followed by ambivalence can be a weakness.

The American people on the ground need a clearer, stronger, Lyndon B. Johnson-type voice from their president. Obama has that voice. It has to be used.

Leadership is about making the right decision and the best decision before, sometimes, it becomes entirely popular.

Most of the good executives do pretty well. Because to be a good executive you have to be strong, and you have to have a simple attribute that people have forgotten about - courage.

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

I learned long ago on the battlefields of Vietnam that in a crisis, there is no substitute for clear-eyed leadership.

Individuals and classes which have lost the force to maintain themselves in power make themselves more and more hated because of their outbursts of random violence. The strong man strikes only when it is absolutely necessary, and then nothing stops him. Trajan was strong, not violent: Caligula was violent, not strong.

It was a hallmark of Nelson Mandela's leadership that being open to change made him appear not weaker, but even stronger.

When you lead, you have to lead from the front.

I am very clear with people that I am willing and able to make tough choices, and I will do that.

You need a strong, tough leader to restore America's greatness. This is the best person to do that.

When I've heard all I need to make a decision, I don't take a vote. I make a decision.

[George W. Bush] has balls. And he's a leader. Unfortunately his balls and leadership are in the service of shitty ideas. We need his balls on someone who thinks right.

Great empires are not maintained by timidity.