The difference is slight, to the influence of an author, whether he is read by five hundred readers, or by five hundred thousand; if he can select the five hundred, he reaches the five hundred thousand.

As he walked, the sad faded leaves were driven pitilessly around him by the wind, and under the mingling influences of autumn and evening, a craving for the quietude of the grave … overtook him with unwanted intensity.

Self-leaders are still true leaders even if they have no known followers. True leaders inspire by the influence of their characters and general self-made brands. Leadership is defined by the virtues of one's behaviour.

To influence people with your leadership gifts, you don’t make them your enemies. When they are your enemies, they won’t take your words seriously; neither will they support your actions.

“We challenged Adrian to become more of a force inside. And Alex played solid backcourt basketball and was a steadying influence for us. We were more consistent on both offense and defense this time.”

“Though domestic demand waned and imports slackened in the first half, due largely to macro-economic controls, it is totally wrong to consider the Chinese Government influenced foreign trade with administrative instruments.”

“I think a lot of people in film and the arts themselves feel kind of helpless, and over the last three or four years have turned to their art form as a way to exert some influence.”

“It can be anything from the food to the waiting time to the CAT scan to the bed sheets. I think the more doctor-driven the facility is, the more influence the physicians have and the less bureaucratic the system is.”

Find a target. Know where your influence is heading towards. Find out those who will be interested in what you do and “why”. Now work hard to answer the question “why?

It is not enough to take good decisions and make good choices. It is necessary to take heed and comply with whatever you plan and that can only happen by the influence of the Lord God, the giver of your dreams.