Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what are we going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.
Interpretation
Grant emphasizes the importance of proactive thinking over speculation about opponents' actions.
In this quote, Ulysses S. Grant urges his troops to focus on their own strategies and initiatives rather than obsessively worrying about their adversary, General Lee's, potential maneuvers. He highlights that leadership requires a mindset oriented towards action and personal responsibility, motivating his men to take charge of their own destiny rather than being distracted by possibilities of enemy movements.
In practice
In a team meeting to encourage members to take initiative rather than waiting for direction.
The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre--what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation.
Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.
Let us labor for the security of free thought, free speech, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and equal rights and privileges for all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion;.... leave the matter of religious teaching to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contribution. Keep church and state forever separate.
When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men commenced firing a salute of a hundred guns in honor of the victory. I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall.
I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see how I can ever trust any human being again.
A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person, but I want you to be. You could give something to her, to me, to those children in the quarter. You could give something I never could ... The white people out there are saying you don't have it-that you're a hog, not a man. But I know they are wrong.
Your focus should be on creating an environment where growth can occur and then letting nature take its course.
I kind of do not like the word chef. Chef, giving you a sense of hierarchy and power. To be a good cook and to be a good leader, it has to come from within and to understand others.
Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only senior executives' decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake.
If you're a leader, people's lives should be better because of the influence you've had along the way.
The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.
Authority is granted to people who are perceived as authoring their own words, their own actions, their own lives, rather than playing a scripted role at great remove from their own hearts.
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