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When we're trying to decide whether a leader is a good leader or a bad one, the question to ask is: 'Is he with the Ten Commandments or is he against them?' Then you can determine if the leader is a true messiah or another Stalin.
Isaac Bashevis Singer
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Interpretation

What this quote means

A good leader upholds moral principles, while a bad leader disregards them.

Isaac Bashevis Singer suggests that the measure of a true leader lies in their adherence to fundamental ethical guidelines, symbolized by the Ten Commandments. This perspective emphasizes the importance of morality in leadership, contrasting virtuous leaders with those who, like Stalin, may wield power without ethical consideration.

Themes

LeadershipMoralityEthicsGoodBadCommandments

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a seminar on ethical leadership.

More from Isaac Bashevis Singer

When a human being kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice.
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There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is.
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Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of nonknowledge.
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As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together.
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Sometimes love is stronger than a man's convictions.
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I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens.
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