Quotes from Stephen R. Covey

One man asked another on the death of a mutual friend, "How much did he leave?" His friend responded, "He left it all.

I believe that there are parts to human nature that cannot be reached by either legislation or education, but require the power of God to deal with.

Consequences are governed by principles, and behavior is governed by values, therefore, value principles!

We are free to choose our actions, based on our knowledge of correct principles, but we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions. Remember, "If you pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the other.

We could spend weeks, months, even years laboring with the personality ethic trying to change our attitudes and behaviors and not even begin to approach the phenomenon of change that occurs spontaneously when we see things differently

If my sense of security lies in my reputation or in the things I have, my life will be in a constant state of threat and jeopardy that these possessions may be lost or stolen or devalued.

Frustration is a function of our expectations, and our expectations are often a reflection of the social mirror rather than our own values & priorities

Just as breathing exercises help integrate body and mind, writing is a kind of psycho-neural muscular activity which helps bridge and integrate the conscious and subconscious minds. Writing distills, crystallizes, and clarifies thought and helps break the whole into parts.

Best way to predict your future is to create it.

When man created the mirror, he began to lose his soul. He became more concerned with his image than with his self.

Leadership is communicating people's worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves." Is that not also the essence of good teaching?

It's not enough to dream. It's not enough to try. It's not enough to set goals or climb ladders. It's not enough to value. The effort has to be based on practical realities that produce the result. Only then can we dream, set goals, and work to achieve them with confidence.

Your attitude determines your altitude

That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price on its goods.

Proactive people make love a verb. Love is something you do: the sacrifices you make, the giving of self, like a mother bringing a newborn into the world... Love is a value that is actualized through loving actions. Proactive people subordinate feeling to values. Love, the feeling, can be recaptured.

Independent people who do not have the maturity to think and actinterdependently may be good individual producers, but they won't be good leaders or team players

When you live out of your memory, you focus on the past. When you live out of your imagination, you focus on the future.

what we believe about ourselves and our purpose has a powerful impact on how we live, how we love, and what we learn.

Because their identity and sense of self-worth are wrapped up in their work, their security is vulnerable to anything that happens to prevent them from continuing in it.

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.

A serious problem with reactive language is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People become reinforced in the paradigm that they are determined, and they produce evidence to support the belief. They feel increasingly victimized and out of control, not in charge of their life or their destiny. They blame outside forces—other people, circumstances, even the stars—for their own situation.

This power of choice means that we are not merely a product of our past or of our genes; we are not a product of how other people treat us. They unquestionably influence us, but they do not determine us. We are self-determining through our choices. If we have given away our present to the past, do we need to give away our future also?

There is no effectiveness without discipline, and there is no discipline without character.

By accepting people you're not condoning their weakness or agreeing with their opinion; you're simply affirming their intrinsic worth.