On Leadership:
“Many a king misunderstands or abuses his calling and ends up devouring the flock – and then he blames the sheep for the dwindling numbers. Such a leader solidifies his power by the use of fear and shame. The troops cower and obey, but they do not love the leader and they are not loyal to him. It is far more difficult to be a shepherd-king, one who must possess power and give it away until he serves as the balancing point of an inverted pyramid” (pg. 61)
“The leader will fail, so he needs to confess his anger, self-absorption, and cowardice and serve his people by being the first one who needs to be forgiven” (pg. 62)
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (pg. 71)
–> “A broken leader is a sweet paradox of confidence and openness. If those I lead have already found out the worst there is to know about me- then the log in my eye is continually being removed in the midst of every crisis. The result is better vision and greater wisdom due to the freedom I feel to both live and die” (pg. 75)
On Courage:
“… He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water, and yet drink death like wine” … this is the foundation for true confidence. – G.K. Chesterton (pg. 74)
“Courage never takes away fear; courage simply redistributes fear to get the job done” (pg. 77)
“Do I know what to do but simply not want to do it?” (pg. 81)
Other Thoughts:
“If the church is really about spiritual relationships, then why are they so hard to keep together?”
—>”‘ What lens am I using to read reality?” (pg. 83)
Entire pg. 98 (not included here unfortunately)
^(Entire pg. 113)
“Groucho Marx wouldn’t want to be part of a club that would have him as a member” (pg. 116)
“Organizations are full of binds because there is not sufficient honesty between human beings to build caring, committed relationships. Instead, everyone figures out how to put on the right face.” (pg. 117)
^(pg 156)
“Most people want to grow, but the price of growth is pain… it is the way of growth and excellence: submission to pain through discipline is the only route to maturity” (pg. 194-195)
On Betrayal:
“Betrayal is a deep psychic wound that hardens the heart against grief and deadens is hunger for intimacy” (unknown)