In his 1983 commencement address at Brigham Young University, Hugh Nibley explained that "true leaders are inspiring because they are inspired, caught up in a higher purpose, devoid of personal ambition, idealistic, and incorruptible.” As I have pondered Nibley’s address over the years, and many others like it, I’ve begun to understand the counterintuitive nature of true leadership. The following selections from three classical literary works—Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, the Tao Te Ching and The Holy Bible—represent some of the oldest insights into leadershing, exploring such qualities as accepting blame, yielding to force, and loving enemies.