Stephen R. Covey > Quotes

“But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Start with the end in mind. ”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“The way we see the problem is the problem.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities”
― Stephen R. Covey

“There are three constants in life... Change, Choice and Principles.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into!”
― Stephen R. Covey

“...to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Live, love, laugh, leave a legacy.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic”
― Stephen R. Covey

“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are──or, as we are conditioned to see it.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Words are like eggs dropped from great heights. You could no more call them back then ignore the mess they left when they fell.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“[W]isdom is the child of integrity—being integrated around principles. And integrity is the child of humility and courage. In fact, you could say that humility is the mother of all virtues because humility acknowledges that there are natural laws or principles that govern the universe. They are in charge. Pride teaches us that we are in charge. Humility teaches us to understand and live by principles, because they ultimately govern the consequences of our actions. If humility is the mother, courage is the father of wisdom. Because to truly live by these principles when they are contrary to social mores, norms and values takes enormous courage.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Independent will is our capacity to act. It gives us the power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to rewrite our scripts, to act based on principle rather than reacting based on emotion or circumstance.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Two people can see the same thing, disagree, and yet both be right. It's not logical; it's psychological.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“I teach people how to treat me by what I will allow.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control - myself.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“It's not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“It is one thing to make a mistake, and quite another thing not to admit it. People will forgive mistakes, because mistakes are usually of the mind, mistakes of judgment. But people will not easily forgive the mistakes of the heart, the ill intention, the bad motives, the prideful justifying cover-up of the first mistake.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“To know and not to do is really not to know.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“As long as you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem”
― Stephen R. Covey

“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Through imagination, we can visualize the uncredited worlds of potential that lie within us.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“I think the most significant work we'll do in our whole life, in our whole world is done within the four walls of our home.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“People simply feel better about themselves when they’re good at something.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 8th Habit : From Effectiveness to Greatness

“Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“At some time in your life, you probably had someone believe in you when you didn't believe in yourself.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“..people are working harder than ever, but because they lack clarity and vision, they aren’t getting very far. They, in essence, are pushing a rope...with all of their might.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 8th Habit : From Effectiveness to Greatness

“إذا أردت أن تتفاعل حقاً مع من تعاملهم ، يجب أن تفهمهم قبل أن تطلب منهم أن يفهموك”
― Stephen R. Covey, العادات السبع للناس الأكثر فعالية

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out”
― Stephen R. Covey

“Begin each day with the blueprint of my deepest values FIRMLY in mind then when challenges come, make decisions BASED on those values.”
― Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People