I usually shy away from making lists of things I like, but here I will make a small concession to the exception that proves the rule.

Call me old fashioned, but here are 41 quotes that are my favourite leadership quotes (of the day):

41 Shots of great leadership quotes:

1. “Through the years, I have learned there is no harm in charging oneself up with delusions between moments of valid inspiration.” – Steve Martin
2. “Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and for ever.” – Leon Trotsky
3. “As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re gonna be dizzy and we’re gonna make mistakes.” – Mel Brooks
4. “I was sorry to see the News of the World go down, I think it was a great campaigning newspaper. Who can forget the News of the World’s high profile campaign against child sex offenders which led to News of the World readers burning down the home of a paediatrician, throwing rocks at a pedalo, stamping on a centipede.” – Stewart Lee
5. “There’s nothing that restores yer faith more in human nature than meeting some poor bastard that’s just as mad as yourself.” – Rab C. Nesbitt
6. “He has rubber-lined pockets so he can steal soup” – Rodraig Spartacus O’Leprosy
7. “Does anybody ever spit at ya when your walking down the street?” – Pádraig Judas O’Leprosy
8. “Neil, the bathroom’s free. Unlike the country under the Thatcherite junta.” – Rik Mayall
9. “From this day forward, all toilets in this kingdom shall be known as…’Johns’!” – King Richard
10. “The statement by Paul McCartney that, although he was a pacifist, he couldn’t be at this time of war. Which is as daft as being a vegetarian between meals.” – Mark Steel
11. “Capitalism is a great idea in theory, but in practice it just doesn’t work.” – Jeremy Hardy
12. “Revolutions are the locomotives of history.” – Karl Marx
13. “The traditional allocation of executive responsibilities has always been so determined as to liberate the ministerial incumbent from the administrative minutiae by devolving the managerial functions to those whose experience and qualifications have better formed them for the performance of such humble offices, thereby releasing their political overlords for the more onerous duties and profound deliberations which are the inevitable concomitant of their exalted position.” – Sir Humphrey Appleby
14. “Yes Percy, I don’t want to be pedantic or anything but the colour of gold is gold. That’s why it’s called ‘gold’. What you have discovered, if it has a name, is some ‘green’.” – Edmund Blackadder
15. “When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.” – Ronald Reagan
16. “You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” – George Bush
17. “Big Data is bullshit” – Harper Lee on Big Data (The Economist)
18. “It’s amazing how ideas start out, isn’t it?” – Nigel Farage
19. “Um, if you had looked the Trojan Horse in the mouth, Minister, you would have found Greeks inside. Well, the point is that it was the Greeks who gave the Trojan horse to the Trojans, so technically it wasn’t a Trojan horse at all; it was a Greek horse. Hence the tag “timeo Danaos et dona ferentes”, which, you will recall, is usually and somewhat inaccurately translated as “beware of Greeks bearing gifts”, or doubtless you would have recalled had you not attended the LSE.” – Bernard Woolley
20. “So I say? So I say? Will you shut up you stupid pie-can. Not a question of what I say. It’s facts, innit?” – Alf Garnett
21. “You know Cuneiform? You know Sanskrit? It’s neither of those.” – Mel Brooks
22. “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde
23. ” Yeah. That is the rubbish that Alfie Flowers sold me last week. Normally I’d never have bought it but, you know, he caught me when I was a bit non compost mentis down the one-eleven club. I never thought I’d get shot of ’em, Rodney, but you know me; he who dares wins. I actually made quite a tidy little profit on it and all.” – Del Boy
24. “We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say ‘How can you sell this for such a low price?’ I say, because it’s total crap.” – Gerald Ratner
25. “Do you know why we are changing the name of Virgin trains? Because they’re f****d.” – Sir Richard Branson
26. “In most cases being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way.” – Tina Fey
27. “You have delighted us long enough.” – Jane Austen
28. “A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice.” – James Callaghan
29. “And if you’re a bloody psychic psychologist how come I’m always having to phone you?” – Edina “Eddy” Monsoon
30. “He was happily married – but his wife wasn’t.” – Victor Borge
31. “The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.” – George Bernard Shaw
32. “The last mosquito that bit me had to check into the Betty Ford clinic.” – Patsy Stone
33. “Prince George, who is described in his party newsheet as ‘a great moral and spiritual leader of the nation’, but is described by almost everyone else as ‘a fat, flatulent git’.” – Vincent Hannas
34. “I’m as happy as a Frenchman who has just invented a pair of self-removing trousers.” – Prince George
35. “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.” – Dorothy Parker
36. “Affleck, you the bomb in ‘Phantoms’, yo!” – Jason Mewes
37. “A modest little person, with much to be modest about.” – Winston Churchill
38. “Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victems he intends to eat until he eats them.” – Samuel Butler
39. “I find it rather easy to portray a businessman. Being bland, rather cruel and incompetent comes naturally to me.” – John Cleese
40. “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” – Margaret Mead
41. “I’m an optimist, but an optimist who carries a raincoat.” – Harold Wilson

Did I miss anything? Did I forget to name your favourite phrases? For other people’s enjoyment, I would suggest that you share your favourite quotes below. Thanks.

Many thanks for reading.