WIST Quotations

Bolt, Robert -- Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)

Dave — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 20:19:50 +0000

YEVGRAF: Happy men don’t volunteer. They wait their turn, and thank God if their age or work delays it.

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)
(Source)

On army recruitment. This line is not in the 1957 Boris Pasternak novel.

Hogan, Robert -- In Jeffrey Kluger, The Narcissist Next Door, ch. 6 (2014)

Dave — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 18:02:06 +0000

Narcissists seem brave, they radiate charismatic energy, and they self-promote like mad. The big thing for narcissists is that they interview very well. Search committees can’t get enough of these guys.

Robert Hogan (b. 1937) American psychologist
In Jeffrey Kluger, The Narcissist Next Door, ch. 6 (2014)
(Source)

Truman, Harry S -- Speech, Annapolis (24 May 1952)

Dave — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 18:35:16 +0000

Do you know what makes a leader? It’s the man or woman who can persuade people to do what they ought to do — and which they sometimes don’t do — without being persuaded. They must also have the ability to persuade people to do what they do not want to do and like it.

Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)
Speech, Annapolis (24 May 1952)
(Source)

Truman used this phrase multiple times in his speech and writing:

Common paraphrase: "You know what makes leadership? It is the ability to get men to do what they don't want to do and like it."
"I could see that history had some extremely valuable lessons to teach. I learned from it that a leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do, and like it." -- Memoirs, Book 1 (1955)]
"My definition of a leader in a free country is a man who can persuade people to do what they don't want to do, or do what they're too lazy to do, and like it." -- Where the Buck Stops (1990) [ed. M. Truman]