--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A revolution requires of its leaders a…" description: "\"A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are expected to invent it.\" — Murray Kempton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png" --- # A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken… ![“A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are expected to invent it.” quote by Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png) > “A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are expected to invent it.” [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Leaders are expected to appear flawless; failure leads to fabricating perfection. **In simple terms:** Leaders must admit imperfections. Key Takeaway Embrace transparency over false perfection. Themes leadership integrity expectations Mood cautious thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - corporate governance - political campaigns - public office - nonprofit management Key Concepts political science ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders model healthy imperfection? - What systems prevent false perfection? A Different Perspective Demanding infallibility can erode trust and accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Infallibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infallibility/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) ## Related quotes > [Revolution requires extensive and widespread destruction, a fecund and renovating destruction, since in this way and only this way are new worlds born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/revolution-requires-extensive-and-widespread-destruction-a-fecund-and/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [If you want to be a true revolutionist, you must first quit chewing gum, because revolution requires high seriousness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-you-want-to-be-a-true-revolutionist-you-must-first-quit-chewing/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Revolution is not intelligible and certainly not reasonable within the thought forms and language of this current world; revolution requires faith. When he speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-mccabe/revolution-is-not-intelligible-and-certainly-not-reasonable-within/) [Herbert McCabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-mccabe/) > [No turtle can be a revolutionist, because revolution requires high speed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/no-turtle-can-be-a-revolutionist-because-revolution-requires-high/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Errors of knowledge are not breaches of morality; no proper moral code can demand infallibility or omniscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/errors-of-knowledge-are-not-breaches-of-morality-no-proper-moral-code/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [The failure of the Reformation to capture France had left for Frenchmen no half-way house between infallibility and infidelity; and while the intellect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/the-failure-of-the-reformation-to-capture-france-had-left-for/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [You're only infallible about your own nervous system. You know what's going on in your own nervous system, whatever realities you're creating out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/you-re-only-infallible-about-your-own-nervous-system-you-know-what-s/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Science makes no claim to infallibility; it leaves that claim to be made by theologians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/science-makes-no-claim-to-infallibility-it-leaves-that-claim-to-be/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Science alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/science-alone-of-all-the-subjects-contains-within-itself-the-lesson/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [The persecution of the innovator and protestant has always been inspired by fear on the part of constituted authority of having its infallibility questioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-persecution-of-the-innovator-and-protestant-has-always-been/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [An infallible Remedy for the Tooth-ach, viz Wash the Root of an aching Tooth, in Elder Vinegar, and let it dry half an hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/an-infallible-remedy-for-the-tooth-ach-viz-wash-the-root-of-an-aching/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“I have had too much experience of life to believe in the infallibility of doctors. Some of them are clever men and some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/i-have-had-too-much-experience-of-life-to-believe-in-the/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [ “\[For people\] to refuse a hearing to an opinion, because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/for-people-to-refuse-a-hearing-to-an-opinion-because-they-are-sure/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [knowledge, absolutely sure of its infallibility, is faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/knowledge-absolutely-sure-of-its-infallibility-is-faith/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) ## More by Murray Kempton > [It is a measure of the Negro's circumstance that, in America, the smallest things usually take him so very long, and that, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/it-is-a-measure-of-the-negro-s-circumstance-that-in-america-the/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [A political convention is just not a place where you come away with any trace of faith in human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-political-convention-is-just-not-a-place-where-you-come-away-with/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [It is not the least of a martyr's scourges to be canonized by the persons who burned him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/it-is-not-the-least-of-a-martyr-s-scourges-to-be-canonized-by-the/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [There is a raging tiger inside every man whom God put on this earth. Every man worthy of the respect of his children spends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/there-is-a-raging-tiger-inside-every-man-whom-god-put-on-this-earth/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [As an organized political group, the Communists have done nothing to damage our society a fraction as much as what their enemies have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/as-an-organized-political-group-the-communists-have-done-nothing-to/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [We are a government of laws. Any laws some government hack can find to louse up a man who's down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/we-are-a-government-of-laws-any-laws-some-government-hack-can-find-to/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [Any experience deeply felt makes some men better and some men worse. When it has ended, they share nothing but the recollection of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/any-experience-deeply-felt-makes-some-men-better-and-some-men-worse/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [It is function of government to invent philosophies to explain the demands of its own convenience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/it-is-function-of-government-to-invent-philosophies-to-explain-the/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [Every social war is a battle between the very few on both sides who care and who fire their shots across a crowd of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/every-social-war-is-a-battle-between-the-very-few-on-both-sides-who/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [Men very seldom change, try though we will, beneath the shifts of exterior doctrine, our hearts so often remain what they were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/men-very-seldom-change-try-though-we-will-beneath-the-shifts-of/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [To say that an idea is fashionable is to say, I think, that is has been adulterated to a point where it is hardly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/to-say-that-an-idea-is-fashionable-is-to-say-i-think-that-is-has-been/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-critic-is-someone-who-enters-the-battlefield-after-the-war-is-over/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [America... an economic system prouder of the distribution of its products than of the products themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/america-an-economic-system-prouder-of-the-distribution-of-its/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [There are things a man must not do even to save a nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/there-are-things-a-man-must-not-do-even-to-save-a-nation/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) > [A man can look upon his life and accept it as good or evil; it is far, far harder for him to confess that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-man-can-look-upon-his-life-and-accept-it-as-good-or-evil-it-is-far/) [Murray Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) [Explore all 32 Murray Kempton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/) ## More Expected quotes > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Postal Service must reduce its stamp prices. The change in stamp prices is expected to affect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/a-federal-court-has-ruled-that-the-u-s-postal-service-must-reduce-its/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-propitious-smiles-of-heaven-can-never-be-expected-on-a-nation/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [I think we were raised in a nice Texas Jewish family where education was the most important thing, and close behind that was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-loeb/i-think-we-were-raised-in-a-nice-texas-jewish-family-where-education/) [Lisa Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-loeb/) > [I am ever mindful of the legacy of my grandfather, the founder of this Kingdom, who had said to me that he perceived his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-hussein-i/i-am-ever-mindful-of-the-legacy-of-my-grandfather-the-founder-of-this/) [King Hussein I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-hussein-i/) > [I have never judged myself by other people’s standards. I have always expected a great deal of myself, and if I fail, I fail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-loren/i-have-never-judged-myself-by-other-people-s-standards-i-have-always/) [Sophia Loren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-loren/) > [But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy’ll be able to do is send sparks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-people-only-die-in-proper-duels-you-know-with-real-wizards-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [True love does not consist in trying to correct others, but in feeling joy that things are better than we expected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/true-love-does-not-consist-in-trying-to-correct-others-but-in-feeling/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Playing in the NFL, you're expected to perform and perform well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-jones/playing-in-the-nfl-you-re-expected-to-perform-and-perform-well/) [Daniel Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-jones/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We were always expected to see Quebec's side of things, but there was damned little reciprocity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-lamarsh/we-were-always-expected-to-see-quebec-s-side-of-things-but-there-was/) [Judy LaMarsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-lamarsh/) > [When you're walking at the airport, you're expected to smile at people because they know you... I find that tough. I'm only trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kaif/when-you-re-walking-at-the-airport-you-re-expected-to-smile-at-people/) [Katrina Kaif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kaif/) > [As the future is never known with certainty, the evaluation of the prospective benefits requires the formation of expectations. An acceptable house, partner or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-t-mortensen/as-the-future-is-never-known-with-certainty-the-evaluation-of-the/) [Dale T. Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-t-mortensen/) > [There's a story about how the program is organized, there's a story about the context in which the program is expected to operate. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-steele/there-s-a-story-about-how-the-program-is-organized-there-s-a-story/) [Guy Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-steele/) Browse all 2,196 Expected quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are expected to invent it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Murray Kempton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-record-of-unbroken/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Expected" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-record-of-unbroken/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fd/murray-kempton-19763_expected_a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-r_528550.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are…” — Murray Kempton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Murray Kempton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-kempton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A revolution requires of its leaders...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-record-of-unbroken/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-kempton/a-revolution-requires-of-its-leaders-a-record-of-unbroken/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```