“Leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination”

“Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination(s)” is a popular quotation of unknown authorship. “Leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.—Lincoln” was cited in print in 1928. “Winners are ordinary people with extraordinary determination” was cited in 1938.
 
“Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determinations” was credited to author John Seaman Garns in 1962, but Garns published books in the late 1930s (about a decade after the first citation).
 
 
17 October 1928, The Indiana Progress (Indiana, PA), pg. 3, col. 2:
Leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.—Lincoln.
 
23 June 1938, The Rolfe Arrow (Rolfe, IA), pg. 3, col. 1 ad:
Winners Are Ordinary People With Extraordinary Determination
(The Rolfe Arrow “Good Will” Campaign.—ed.)
 
3 February 1949, The Laurens Sun (Laurens, IA), pg. 5, col. 2 ad:
Winners are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.
(The Laurens Sun.—ed.)
 
1 December 1956, Rockford (IL) Morning Star, pg. 6B, col. 5 classified ad:
REAL LEADERS ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE with extraordinary determinations.
 
Hathi Trust Digital Library
Lifetime Speaker’s Encyclopedia
Edited by Jacob Morton Braude
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1962
Pg. 423:
Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determinations.
—JOHN SEAMAN GARNS
 
26 September 1962, Atchison (KS) Daily Globe, pg. 1, col. 2:
Philosopher Of Brewery Creek Says Real Leaders Are Ordinary People With Extraordinary Determination!
 
Google Books
Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do!
By Robert H. Schuller
New York, NY: Bantam Books
1984, ©1983
Pg. 24:
I remember that bank! I have early childhood memories of going there, in patched overalls, with my father. I recall seeing this slogan on a calendar in that bank: “Great people are ordinary people with extraordinary amounts of determination.”
 
Google Books
Health & High Performance:
The Total Approach to Success Through Fitness
By Robert J. Brosmer and Deborah L. Waldron
Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co.
1991
Pg. 46:
“Exceptional performers are ordinary people with extraordinary commitment.”
 
Google Books
The Effective Corrections Manager:
Maximizing Staff Performance in Demanding Times
By Richard L. Phillips and Charles R. McConnell
Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers
1996
Pg. 157:
Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determinations. — John Seaman Garns
 
Google Books
The Educator’s Book of Quotes
By John Blaydes
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.
2003
Pg. 144:
Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination. —Author Unknown
 
Google Books
My Journal, My Friend:
A Journey of Self Discovery and Inspiration
By Kellie-Lee Jackson
Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press
2011
Pg. 192:
As the saying goes, “Successful people are ordinary people with extraordinary attitudes.”
 
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Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination. -Albert Einstein, smart guy and really good bagels.
12:29 PM - 13 Nov 2014