Quotes from Stephen R. Covey

As we make and keep commitments, even small commitments, we begin to establish an inner integrity that gives us the awareness of self-control and the courage and strength to accept more of the responsibility for our own lives. By making and keeping promises to ourselves and others, little by little, our honor becomes greater than our moods.

T. S. Eliot expresses so beautifully my own personal discovery and conviction: "We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.

We can "pose" and "put on" for a stranger or an associate. We can pretend. And for a while we can get by with it—at least in public. We might even deceive ourselves. Yet I believe that most of us know the truth of what we really are inside; and I think many of those we live with and work with do as well.

Although the church claims to teach people about the source of power, it does not claim to be that power itself. It claims to be one vehicle through which divine power can be channeled into man's nature.

Edwin Hubbell Chapin said: "Fashion is the science of appearances, and it inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.

If I am emotionally interdependent, I derive a great sense of worth within myself, but I also recognize the need for love, for giving, and for receiving love from others.

In the words of Abraham Maslow, "He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail.

Let people learn from your mistakes or the mistakes of others. Point out the potential failure paths, what not to do, but don't tell them what to do.

We are what we repeatedly do.

Our new paradigm was created as we invested in the growth and development of our own character.

Satisfied needs do not motivate. It's only the unsatisfied need that motivates.

Double-mindedness, having two conflicting motives or interests, inevitably sets us at war with ourselves—and an internal civil war often breaks out into war with others. The opposite of double-mindedness is self-unity or integrity. We achieve integrity through the dedication of ourselves to selfless service of others.

Our personal environment is also changing at an ever-increasing pace. Such rapid change burns out a large number of people who feel they can hardly handle it, can hardly cope with life. They become reactive and essentially give up, hoping that the things that happen to them will be good.

Anything less than Win/Win in an interdependent reality is a poor second best that will have impact in the long-term relationship.

make decisions based on our values and not how we felt in the moment.

A menudo «lo bueno» es enemigo de «lo mejor».

the last analysis, as Marilyn Ferguson observed, "No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or by emotional appeal.

recognize we've been scripted in ways that are not in harmony with our deep inner conscience

For many of us, there's a gap between the compass and the clock— between what's deeply important to us and the way we spend our time.

Show me someone who is humble enough to accept and take responsibility for his or her circumstances and courageous enough to take whatever initiative is necessary to creatively work his or her way through or around these challenges, and I'll show you the supreme power of choice.

your happiness depends on (1) genetics, (2) circumstances, and (3) things you can control.

you're not going to talk your way out of a problem you behaved yourself into.

the pressures of circumstance

Each of us tends to think we see things as they are, that we are objective. But this is not the case. We see the world, not as it is, but as we are—or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves