It is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life.
Interpretation
Prayer is essential for leading a life guided by virtue.
Saint John Chrysostom emphasizes the importance of prayer in achieving a virtuous life, particularly in the context of leadership. He suggests that without spiritual guidance and connection, it becomes exceedingly difficult to uphold moral integrity and lead effectively, implying that true leadership is intertwined with a commitment to one's values and ethics through prayerful reflection.
In practice
During a leadership workshop, to emphasize the importance of spiritual guidance in decision-making.
No one has ever been accused for not providing ornaments, but for those who neglect their neighbour a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demons. Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all.
When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their follow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them.
Abba Moses asked Abba Sylvanus, Can a person lay a new foundation every day? The old man replied, If you work hard, you can lay a new foundation every moment. Abba Pimen said, To throw yourself before God, not to measure your progress, to leave behind all self-will; these are the instruments for the work of the soul. The desire to rule is the mother of heresies.
I hear no one boast, that he hath a knowledge of the Scriptures, but that he owneth a Bible written in golden characters. And tell me then, what profiteth this? The Holy Scriptures were not given to us that we should enclose them in books, but that we should engrave them upon our hearts.
Prayer should be the means by which I, at all times, receive all that I need, and, for this reason, be my daily refuge, my daily consolation, my daily joy, my source of rich and inexhaustible joy in life.
Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead
There is small risk a general will be regarded with contempt by those he leads, if, whatever he may have to preach, he shows himself best able to perform.
Every company knows what they do _x000D_ Some know how they do it _x000D_ Very few know why
I am going to build the kind of nation that President Roosevelt hoped for, President Truman worked for, and President Kennedy died for.
I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men, whose superiors it is our happiness to believe are not found on the executive calendar of any country.
If I had one more division like this First Marine Division I could win this war.
Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only senior executives' decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake.
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