01
“The promise I trusted was the one you kept after everyone stopped checking.”
— ToastBuddy original
The quote index
Leadership
Lines about earning trust, inviting contributions, and helping others take responsibility.
02
“The next generation is already learning from the way we treat each other tonight.”
— ToastBuddy original
03
“You let us watch you change your mind, which made it easier for the rest of us to learn.”
— ToastBuddy original
04
“The meeting changed when you asked the person who had not spoken what they thought.”
— ToastBuddy original
05
“We trusted you with bad news because you made it useful to tell the truth early.”
— ToastBuddy original
06
“You left us with the reasoning behind the decision, so we could make the next one ourselves.”
— ToastBuddy original
07
“One measure of your leadership is how many people now feel able to take responsibility beside you.”
— ToastBuddy original
08
“You are leaving a team that can explain the work in its own words.”
— ToastBuddy original
09
“The most useful answer you gave that day began with admitting what you did not know.”
— ToastBuddy original
See the idea in motion
Speeches about leadership
Archive
First Inaugural Address
George Washington opens a new responsibility by admitting its weight and recognizing the people who entrusted it to him.
Archive
O Captain! My Captain!
Whitman’s elegy for Lincoln makes space for public achievement and private grief to exist at the same time.
Archive
Commencement Address at Howard University
A bounded lesson from Taft’s 1909 address: connect encouragement for graduates with the institution’s obligation to support them.