5 quotes that will make you top leader

A few words on leadership from ‘Liberador’ Simon Bolivar

I find it impossible to ignore Simone Bolivar, the George Washington of the South. He led the liberation of most of South America from Spain, much as George Washington led the liberation of America from England. I was driven to read the definitive biography of Bolivar partly because he (like Washington) was a Mason, as am I, and partly because my fever for Latin American history.

Bolivar, who lived 1783–1830, was known for his perseverance for American independence, for his insistence on liberty for slaves and for his fiery quotes. It’s intriguing how true Bolivar’s quotes ring today. To that end, I’ve printed a list of the top five Bolivar quotes, and why we should care about them 200 years later

1) “An ignorant people is the blind instrument of its own destruction.” — Simone Bolivar

An article in Psychology Today argued that ignorance about race is killing us. The news item pointed that while nine Americans lay dead, after they were murdered in a church in Charleston, S.C., on June 17, 2015, thousands of Americans were making racist jokes. Dylan Roof, the man who was responsible for the murders, justified his actions based on information promoted on white-power websites. These websites, and even some mainstream media “develop a psychological wall of fear, distrust” and other impediments to the development of communities in America.

2) “God grants victor to perseverance.” — Simone Bolivar

Jim Carey now gets multi-million dollar payouts for his acting gigs, and is known today for The Mask, Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura, among other things. Yet, Carey was booed off the stage for his first comic standup bit. He also was rejected for Saturday Night Live when he first auditioned. That’s a great victor for Carey that only comes from perseverance.

3) “The art of victory is learned in defeat.” — Simone Bolivar

As The Washington Post has noted, one-quarter of all U.S. presidents lost the presidency before they won the presidency. Among the first-time losers are Thomas Jefferson and George H.W. Bush. While Abraham Lincoln won the presidency on his first try, that win followed a long chain of defeats for the future president including defeats for the U.S. Senate (twice), defeat for the U.S. Congress, defeat for the U.S. vice-president, defeat for the Illinois State Speaker of the House and defeat for the Illinois State legislature.

4) “To do something right it must be done twice. The first time instructs the second.” — Simon Bolivar.

During his professional basketball career, Michael Jordan earned six NBA championships, five NBA Most-Valued Player titles and made 14 All-Star Game appearances. Yet, he was he was cut from his high school’s varsity team roster as a 15-year-old sophomore.

5) “Out of the most secure things, the most secure is to doubt.” — Simone Bolivar

According to an article in Fast Company, “Doubt make you aware of your weaknesses so you can prepare to counteract them.” The article continues: “If your doubt is telling you that you don’t know enough about something you want to get into, consider if that is a factor, or an insecurity.” I suspect that Bolivar was talking about something different. Yet, our own doubts help us gain perspective about what we know we can do, what we know can cannot do (now) and what we may be able to do in the future if we out our minds to it.