ENTJ

Napoleon Bonaparte

General and emperor of France

Bonaparte: "An empty throne always tempts me."

Bonaparte: "Ambition is never in a greater hurry than I. It merely keeps pace with my way of thinking."

Bonaparte: "Men are moved by two levers only: Fear and self-interest."

Bonaparte: "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever."

Karl Marx: "[Napoleon] swept away everywhere the establishments of feudality. ... [He was] Caesar himself."

Arthur Wellington: "His presence on the field makes the difference of forty thousand men."

Steven Pinker: "[Napoleon deployed] every available resource to inflict all-out defeats on [his] enemies."

ENTJ

Julius Caesar

General and dictator of Rome, adoptive father of Augustus

Caesar: "I would rather be first in a village than second in Rome."

[Letter to the Senate about his progress on campaign:]
Caesar: "Veni, vidi, vici."
("I came, I saw, I conquered.")

Caesar: "If you must break the law, do it to seize power: In all other cases observe it."

Caesar: "No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by some unexpected twist in his plan."

Caesar: "He conquers twice, who shows mercy to the conquered."

ENTJ

Margaret Thatcher

U.K. Prime Minister - "The Iron Lady"

Thatcher: "When you fight - fight to win."

Thatcher: "To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best."

Thatcher: "I favour an approach to statecraft that embraces principles, as long as it is not stifled by them; and I prefer such principles to be accompanied by steel."

Thatcher: "[The problem with socialists is that] they always run out of other people's money."

Brian Walden: "She was as tough as they come, and anything that required guts and will she could do."

ENTJ

Aristotle

Greek philosopher, student of Plato, mentor of Alexander

Aristotle: "How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms!"

Aristotle: "With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it."

[When Alexander asked how to conquer:]
Aristotle: "Make your hurry bristle with deliberateness [and] use pardon as an instrument of power. Then I guarantee you many subjects."

Oxford University Study: "Aristotle had ... an extrovert stance."

Greg Mogenson: "Jung is to Freud as Plato is to Aristotle."

ENTJ

Alexander Hamilton

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and founding father

Hamilton: "A nation that prefers disgrace to danger is prepared for a master and deserves one."

Hamilton: "Power over a man's salary is power over his will."

Hamilton: "Men love power."

[Jefferson: "The three greatest men in history are Bacon, Newton and Locke."]
Hamilton: "The greatest man who ever lived was Julius Caesar."

Jefferson: "He is really a colussus ... Even without the support of others, he is a host in himself."

ENTJ

Aung San Suu Kyi

Politician and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

Suu Kyi: "You should think of me as a political party leader. I was a politician before I was a 'democracy icon.'"

Suu Kyi: "As the leader of a party you have to aspire to the leadership of the nation, because that means your party will have won, and every party wants to win."

Suu Kyi: "I like intelligent people."

Suu Kyi: "Truth is a powerful weapon."

Suu Kyi: "Melodrama is very silly."

[Interviewer: "Can you imagine yourself as the leader of Burma having to use violence against humans, to use force to kill people?"]
Suu Kyi: "It's an occupational hazard."

Dharmacarini Munisha: "She does not suffer fools gladly, and one of her colleagues describes her as a workaholic."

ENTJ

Bill Gates

Founder of Microsoft along with Paul Allen

Gates: "Microsoft has had clear competitors in the past. It's a good thing we have museums to document that."

Paul Allen: "It was tough not to back off against Bill, with his intellect and foot tapping and body rocking; he came on like a force of nature. The irony was that Bill liked it when someone pushed back and drilled down with him to get to the best solution."

Des Dearlove: "Gates [is] a fierce competitor. In everything he does, he has been driven to win."

Stewart Aisop: "Gates believes everything can be ... reduced to essentials and rearranged into a logical sequence that will achieve a particular goal."

ENTJ

Carl Sagan

Astrophysicist

Sagan: "Valid criticism is doing you a favor."

Sagan: "[We should not be] willing to tolerate ignorance and complacency."

Sagan: "We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster."

Sagan: "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

Ronald Blum: "[He was] very intolerant of anything irrational."

[His first wife:] "He never listened to anything on any kind of emotional level. ... He was ... untouched and untouchable."

ENTJ

Karl Rove

Campaign strategist and policy advisor (R)

Rove: "[A campaign that is run by me] has a strategic plan, discipline, and a bias for action. It is structured to keep momentum."

Rove: "[I] set goals and repeatedly check performance against those goals."

Rove: "[I] acknowledge and directly confront critics."

Rove: "I [want] a bridge from the world of ideas to the world of practical politics."

Rove: "[I have always wanted to have] better research and more of it than any of [my] competitors."

Rove: "Staying on offense [is] important and ... once you [are] on the defense, it [is] hard to regain control."

ENTJ

Dick Cheney

U.S. Vice President (R)

Cheney: "Principle is okay up to a certain point, but principle doesn't do any good if you lose."

Cheney: "I didn't [become Vice President] out of a desire to be popular. You've got to be willing in this business to take the slings and arrows when they come your way. What's important is to do ... what needs to be done."

Steven Johnson: "It has been said that with Dick Cheney's failing heart, George W. Bush is just a heartbeat away from the presidency."

ENTJ

Rahm Emanuel

U.S. Chief of Staff (D) at the White House

Emanuel: "Obama and I share ... a sense of impatience to get things done."

[When asked why he took the job:]
Emanuel: "The place where you can most impact people's lives and leave your thumbprint ... is [from] the White House."

[Describing his influence on Obama's policies:]
Emanuel: "... of course it's his presidency, et cetera..."

ENTJ

Al Gore

U.S. Vice President (D)

Gore: "There is in all human beings a natural instinct for power."

Gore: "Modern politics seems to require and reward some capacities that I don't think I have ... such as a tolerance for ... spin rather than an honest discussion of substance. ... Apparently, it comes easily for some people, but not for me."

Gore: "Too many of the world's leaders are ... decided only to be undecided."

Washington Post: "[While the young] Gore was a bit reserved, he was [not] an introvert ... and ... had [an] enthusiasm for ... competitions of all sorts."

Bill Gates: "Al Gore's book 'Our Choice' is a great book."

ENTJ

Madeleine Albright

U.S. Secretary of State (D)

Albright: "[I am] a person with strong opinions [and] a tendency to express them."

Albright: "[I] have the capability of telling it like it is."

Albright: "There is no doubt [that] if you aim high enough, you will ... meet resistance. ... But no matter how tough the opposition may seem: Have courage - and persevere."

Albright: "I [do] not share the popular distaste for politicians. People in politics ... put their egos on the line, work hard, take risks, and the best of them accomplish things of real and lasting value."

Albright: "I'm not saying that the whole world would be a lot better if it were run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten high school."

ENTJ

Nancy Pelosi

U.S. Speaker of the House (D)

Pelosi: "Anybody who's ever dealt with me knows not to mess with me."

Pelosi: "[Politics] is not for the faint of heart."

Pelosi: "Bipartisanship is nice, but it cannot be a substitute for action, not having it cannot prevent us from going forward."

Pelosi: "My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those [like me] who wanted to do something comprehensive."

Pelosi: "I say to my colleagues: 'Never confine your best work ... to what will be signed by George W. Bush because that is too limiting a factor.'"

[On her cameo on the sitcom '30 Rock':]
Pelosi: "I would do almost anything Tina Fey asks me to do."

ENTJ

Rush Limbaugh

Conservative radio talk show host

Limbaugh: "The only reason people are willing to pay me [$400 million] is because the people who invest in me get results beyond their expectations."

Limbaugh: "I don't stop and think about what I've accomplished because there's always tomorrow."

Limbaugh: "Compassion is no substitute for justice."

[When asked if he wanted Obama to succeed as president:]
Limbaugh: "No. ... Why would I want socialism to succeed?"

Limbaugh: "I admire Sarah Palin's backbone. ... There are not many politicians who've been through what she's been put through and are still able to smile. ... This woman is pretty tough."

ENTJ

Peter Thiel

Founder of PayPal, student of Rene Girard

Thiel: "[Life] is like a never-ending tournament. ... You have to win the tournament. You have to be realistic about how to win the tournament."

[Asked if he prefers nuclear power to renewable energy:]
Thiel: "I prefer things that work."

Thiel: "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser."

[Asked how much luck matters:]
Thiel: "[If] you think of the world as consisting of lottery tickets, you have set yourself up to lose. ... It's really a kind of laziness where people don't want to think as hard about things as they should."

Thiel: "Every myth on this planet tells us the purpose of life is death, and I don't think that's true. I think the purpose of life is life."

Max Levchin: "Peter is very fast. He usually decides in 1.5 seconds."

ENTJ

Jack Welch

Management theorist and CEO of General Electric

Welch: "I am brutally honest and outspoken. I am impatient and, to many, abrasive."

Welch: "The world isn't that complex!"

Welch: "Can you say yes or no? Or are you one of those people that always wants a little more data? A 'maybe' person. ... I hate those people!"

Welch: "Self-confident people aren't afraid to have their views challenged. They relish the intellectual combat."

Larry Ellison: "I greatly admire [Jack Welch's] utterly ruthlessly focused management. [At GE] they make decisions; they are incredibly disciplined and focused."

ENTJ

David Letterman

Talk show host

Letterman: "Nothing, believe me, nothing is more satisfying to me personally than getting a great idea and then beating it to death."

Letterman: "It's hard to orchestrate anarchy every night."

Letterman: "There are responsibilities greater than individual feelings in life."

Letterman: "Emotionally I'm very immature."

Leslie Moonves: "He has one of the best work ethics of anybody I've ever been in business with. ... That's the way he's built."

ENTJ

George Clooney

Actor and filmmaker

Clooney: "Directing is really exciting. At the end of the day, it's more fun to be the painter than the paint."

Clooney: "No one wants to hear you complain."

[Julia Roberts: "You work ten times harder than I do."]
Clooney: "I don't have a family. [Work] is my family."

ENTJ

Matt Damon

Actor

Damon: "The frustrating thing about being an actor [is that] you're not controlling your own destiny."

Damon: "I'm dying to [direct]. I'm really excited about it."

Damon: "The [actors] who would take [their work] very seriously and who would applaud discipline and commitment were the ones I always looked up to."

Damon: "[It is] hard for me to turn down work."

Damon: "[In Hollywood there are people who are] famous for ... 10 minutes. Real careers take a long time to unfold."

Damon: "I feel I have an unspoken deal with the paparazzi: 'I won't do anything publicly interesting if you agree not to follow me.'"

ENTJ

Penn Jillette

Entertainer, partner of Teller

Jillette: "[Juggling] is very much in line with my heart. ... Juggling is very, very straightforward; very, very black and white; you're manipulating objects, not people. And that's always appealed to me."

Jillette: "Everybody [should be] busted on their bullshit all the time because I think that's the way we get to truth. That is also what respect is. ... What we call 'tolerance' is often just condescending."

Jillette: "I never wanted to be a comedian. I never wanted to be on stage."

ENTJ

Charlize Theron

Actress

Charlize Theron: "I love the feeling of being in charge."

Theron: "I am definitely attracted to characters that [are] tough, and you have to break through that exterior."

Theron: "[To be a model] wasn't ... satisfying for me because I like to say what's on my mind."

Theron: "I don't think I'm a natural performer."

[Asked if sexism among Hollywood screenwriters is to blame for the lack of nuanced roles for women:]
Theron: "That's all bullshit. ... If there's a demand [from the audience, the screenwriters] will deliver it."

Paul Haggis: "She has this Kate Hepburn quality: One of the guys."

Woody Allen: "Charlize is a force of nature ... with crushing sex appeal."

ENTJ

Katharine Hepburn

Actress

Hepburn: "[Success comes from] finding out where you went wrong and correcting it."

Hepburn: "Each of us has to learn responsibility. ... Here we are. Live up to your potential."

Hepburn: "I have brains ... and a handy head of common sense."

[Her father:] "I can only compare her to a young bull about to charge."

Kenneth Tynan: "Her aggressiveness is that of the sun at high noon."

[Looking back on her roles:]
Hepburn: "I [was] always the same. I had a very definite personality and I liked material that showed that personality. ... So, was I an actor? I don't know."

Anthony Hopkins: "[She was] tough [and] very formidable. She was opinionated about everything."

ENTJ

Tea Leoni

Actress

Leoni: "Acting doesn't feel good. It's not comfortable to feel all this stuff, it's not!"

Leoni: "I don't find glamour and clothing relevant."

Leoni: "[Casting directors have told me I am] too edgy, too tough, too tomboy, too strong."

Leoni: "[Woody Allen and I] have great chemistry."

New York Times: "She has a quietly forceful way of speaking, words marching out of her mouth in husky cadences that bring Katharine Hepburn to mind."

ENTJ

Adele

Singer-songwriter

Adele: "I'm a big personality. I walk into a room, big and tall and loud."

Adele: "I was a thick-skinned girl from a very young age."

Adele: "'The Godfather' is my favorite film."

Adele: "I have absolutely no intention of going into acting or making perfumes. ... I will stick to what I am good at and not spread myself thin and become mediocre at everything I do."

Adele: "In my relationships I'm never very good at saying how I feel and talking about it, even if they are and they try and bring it out with me."

[Interviewer:] "When [I order a glass of white wine and] the waitress asks what kind and I hesitate for a moment, Adele jumps in with a funny/charming/controlling burst of impatience and orders for me."

ENTJ

Cobie Smulders

Actress

Smulders: "I've always been one of the guys."

[On being a model:]
Smulders: "I didn't enjoy making a living off of how I look, so I bowed out."

[When casting her for 'How I Met Your Mother':]
Producers: "You are Robin! You are Robin incarnate!"

ENTJ

Frederick Taylor

Management theorist

Taylor: "Personal ambition always has been ... a more powerful incentive to exertion than a desire for the general welfare."

[His son:] "Even into golf he carried his analytic turn of mind. ... In golf, as in every other thing, he strove to eliminate the element of chance."

[His son:] "One of [his] characteristics was the readiness with which he subjected human activity to law and regulation. ... Yet he was not a man who failed to see ... principle."

Peter Drucker: "[Taylorism is the] most powerful as well as the most lasting contribution America has made to Western thought since the Federalist Papers."

ENTJ

Peter Drucker

Management theorist

Drucker: "Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done ... by a monomaniac with a mission."

[Asked how he would characterize his legacy:]
Drucker: "I helped a few good people be effective in doing the right things."

Drucker: "Management has authority only as long as it performs."

Drucker: "Knowledge is useless ... until it has been translated into deeds."

ENTJ

Michael Porter

Management theorist

Porter: "To be successful, an organization must have a very strong leader who's willing to make choices and define the trade-offs."

Porter: "[You should] develop this discipline and this sense that you're competing, and that you have to prepare, and that you have to practice, and train, and rehearse and so forth."

Financial Times: "Michael Porter looks and behaves like a corporate titan as much as an academic."

Dan Richards: "Business school professors [point] to Peter Drucker and Michael Porter as the most influential thinkers on corporate strategy."

ENTJ

Paul Ryan

U.S. Congressman and vice presidential candidate (R)

Ryan: "I have strong opinions, strong ideas. ... I want to be a policy leader."

Ryan: "[I'm going] to do what makes me most effective in the time I'm going to spend in public service."

[His economics professor:] "He was constantly thinking about how [to] apply the concepts to solve political problems."

Bob Kasten: "He lives a very, very busy, hectic and energetic life."

[His mother:] "Paul had always been, you might say, goal-oriented."

ENTJ

H.J. Eysenck

Professor of psychology and author

Eysenck: "If it cannot be measured, it does not exist."

Eysenck: "Tact and diplomacy are fine in international relations, in politics, perhaps even in business; in science only one thing matters, and that is the facts."

C.A. Mace: "Sometimes the qualities of the destructive critic are combined with those of the constructive thinker - as is the case with Eysenck."

ENTJ

Theodore Millon

Professor of psychology and author

Millon: "An early talker and late walker ... from nine to eighteen months, I would sit in my highchair 'telling' my parents not only what they could do for me, but also how they should do it."

ENTJ

Averroes

Philosopher

Averroes: "The denial of a truth by a contradictor does not trouble the conviction of the men to whom it is evident."

Averroes: "There exists no proof which refutes anything that is evidently true and universally acknowledged."

Averroes: "Ghazali's argument aims only at creating and establishing a doubt, which is the objective of a sophist."

Averroes: "Aristotle was the first master among philosophers."

Oliver Leaman: "Averroes is more of a political universalist and [more of] an Aristotelian than [a] Platonist."

ENTJ

Galen of Pergamum

Roman doctor to Marcus Aurelius

Galen: "Pain is useless to the pained."

Galen: "Employment is nature's physician, and is essential to human happiness."

ENTJ

Elizabeth Anscombe

Philosopher

Anscombe: "Hume reaches his conclusions by sophistical methods."

Guardian obituary: "Outspoken, often rude, she was sometimes dubbed 'Dragon Lady.'"

Guardian obituary: "When she threatened one of her children, 'If you do that again, I'll put you on the train to Bicester', and he did, she felt obliged ... to actually put him on the train."

ENTJ

Benazir Bhutto

Prime Minister of Pakistan

Bhutto: "Leadership requires action: daring to take steps that are necessary but unpopular."

Bhutto: "The difference between somebody who succeeds and somebody who fails is the ability to absorb a setback. ... There will be setbacks, and there are those who give up, and those who go on."

ENTJ

Gretchen Rubin

Author of 'The Happiness Project'

Rubin: "I'm a very ambitious, competitive person."

Rubin: "I'm a real know-it-all."

Rubin: "For me, outer order contributes to inner calm."

Rubin: "A sense of purpose is very important to happiness."

[Her sister:] "She always had this desire for legitimacy."

ENTJ

Robert Parker

World no. 1 wine critic

Parker: "I don't give a shit that your family goes back to pre-1789 and you've got more wealth than I could imagine. If this wine's no good, I'm gonna say so."

Parker: "I've always followed the rule that anything worth doing is worth doing excessively."

Parker: "No ascetic can be considered reliably sane. Hitler was the archetype of [that]. When the other krauts saw him drink water in the Beer Hall, they should have known."

Parker: "The French newspapers say of me: 'Parker only likes strong and oaky wines with a lot of alcohol.' ... I think its code for, 'He's American.'"