Quotes from Stephen R. Covey

25 years of working

that the relationship which the parts have to each other is a part in and of itself.

true love is found in the affirmation of another person's identity and stewardship, in seeking his or her growth and good, not on interpreting all the other person's responses in terms of one's own needs, hungers, or desires.

You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a plot for weeds.

An understanding of the principle of our own growth enables us to search out correct principles with the confidence that the more we learn, the more clearly we can focus the lens through which we see the world. The principles don't change; our understanding of them does.

THE "HAVE'S" AND THE "BE'S

The more our values are in harmony with principles, the better decisions we will make… and the more inner peace we will have.

There are people we trust absolutely because we know their character. Whether they're eloquent or not, whether they have the human relations techniques or not, we trust them, and we work successfully with them. In the words of William George Jordan, "Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or evil—the silent, unconscious, unseen influence of his life. This is simply the constant radiation of what man really is, not what he pretends to be.

For our purposes, we will define a habit as the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire. Knowledge is the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. And desire is the motivation, the want to do. In order to make something a habit in our lives, we have to have all three.

Lord, give me the courage to change the things which can and ought to be changed, the serenity to accept the things which cannot be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference.

When two people in a marriage are more concerned about getting the golden eggs, the benefits, than they are in preserving the relationship that makes them possible, they often become insensitive and inconsiderate, reflecting the little kindnesses and courtesies so important to a deep relationship. They begin to use control leavers to manipulate each other, to focus on their own needs, to justify their own position and look for evidence to show the wrongness of the other person

They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them. It is our willing permission, our consent to what happens to us, that hurts us far more than what happens to us in the first place.

No one can persuade another to change. Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside.

is not only a part, but the most catalytic, the most empowering, the most

It means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.

common sense isn't always common practice.

effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems. They think preventively. They have genuine Quadrant I crises and emergencies that require their immediate attention, but the number is comparatively small.

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

Even during the most intense years building Microsoft, he periodically set aside an entire week to unplug for reading and reflection, a Think Week.

unifying, and the most exciting part.

The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environments. Proactive people are driven by values- carefully thought about, selected and internalised values.

Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness… or ineffectiveness.

It is only in orienting his life to the divine center that a person can secure anything else he desires and yet not be based upon it.

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." If you decide