25 Vision Quotes to Challenge Your Thinking

Where there is no vision the people perish. (Prov 29:18)

So, why is it that very few leaders and organizations effectively cast vision? Or even better said: why is it that even fewer leaders consistently drip vision out to their people?

If we’re honest, most leaders have never been trained in the importance of vision clarity – nevertheless how to create and communicate it . If that’s you, it’s OK. I felt that way for the first few decades of my life. In fact, there were a few decades when the topic of vision never even crossed my mind.

Rather than dive into the “why” of vision clarity, the importance of it, or even the how to, we’ve compiled a list of vision quotes to wet your appetite. Take a second to wrestle with each of these. Then, identify at least one of the vision quotes you resonate with and one you have questions about.

Here are our 25 vision quotes:

1. “The empires of the future are empires of the mind.” — Winston Churchil
2. “Vision is the ability to talk about the future with such clarity it is as if we are talking about the past.” — Simon Sinek
3. “To the person who does not know where he wants to go, there is no favorable wind.” — Seneca
4. “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” — Japanese proverb
5. “The beginning part of the burden of the vision isn’t the hard part. Finishing it is the hard part.” —Mike Linch
6. “A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.” — Ralph Lauren
7. “A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become, and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” — David Gergen
8. “Big thinking precedes great achievement.” — Wilfred Peterson
9. “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.” — John Sculley
10. “If we don’t have a vision for our life, someone else will.” — Jason Lara
11. “If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.” — Robert Fritz
12. “Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.” — Jonathan Swift
13. “The greater the vision and burden, the louder the critic.” — Mike Linch
14. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” — Warren Bennis
15. “Where there is no vision the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18
16. “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” — Michelangelo
17. “We must, by God’s grace, embody the vision. If not, we are duplicitous.” — Derwin Gray
18. “A good vision statement should be unique (or specific).” — Dr. Jerry Graham
19. “The very first task of leadership is to set the vision for the organization.  If you don’t set the vision, you’re not the leader.” — Rick Warren
20. “In the long run, men hit only what they aim at.” — Henry David Thoreau
21. “Vision without execution is hallucination.” — Thomas Edison
22. “Start with a goal in mind and make your vision a reality!” — Protege Media
23. “One can have a vision but no leadership; but real leadership requires a vision.” — Dr. Joe McKeever
24. “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed–the vision pulls you.” — Steve Jobs
25. “Visions are always birthed from burdens. A great vision always comes about from a burden you have.” — Mike Linch

Which of those vision quotes resonated with you? What questions do you have? Leave a comment below and let us know.