Quotes from Stephen R. Covey

Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.

Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.

Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.

Start with the end in mind.

To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.

Strength lies in differences, not in similarities

When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.

Two people can see the same thing, disagree, and yet both be right. It's not logical; it's psychological.

It's not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.

We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.

to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.

Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.

Love is a verb. Love – the feeling – is the fruit of love the verb or our loving actions. So love her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her.

At some time in your life, you probably had someone believe in you when you didn't believe in yourself.

The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person.

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.