Quotes About Ownership

The language of reactive people absolves them of responsibility.

Taking initiative means] recognizing our responsibility to make things happen

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

Look at the word responsibility—"response-ability"—the ability to choose your response.

Perhaps a sense of possessing needs to come before a sense of genuine sharing.

Don't get into a blaming, accusing mode. Work on things you have control over. Work on you. On be

We are free to choose our response in any situation, but in doing so, we choose the attendant consequence. When we pick up one end of the stick, we pick up the other

We are responsible for our own effectiveness, for our own happiness, and ultimately, I would say, for most of our circumstances.

I've learned that once children gain a sense of real possession, they share very naturally, freely, and spontaneously.

Anytime we think the problem is "out there," that thought is the problem.

Personal responsibility, or proactivity, is fundamental to the first creation. Returning to the computer metaphor, Habit 1 says, "You are the programmer." Habit 2, then, says, "Write the program." Until you accept the idea that you are responsible, that you are the programmer, you won't really invest in writing the program.

response-ability"—the ability to choose your response.

as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.

Perhaps my daughter needed the experience of possessing the things before she could give them. (In fact, unless I possess something, can I ever really give it?)

In fact, unless I possess something, can I ever really give it?)

After all that's been said and written, being proactive comes down to two things. First, take responsibility for your life; and second, take initiative. It's that simple. Be an agent, not a victim. Don't wait for life to happen to you; happen to it. Be the driver of your life, not just a passenger. Live out of your imagination, not your past.

Habit 1 says, "You are the programmer." Habit 2, then, says, "Write the program." Until you accept the idea that you are responsible, that you are the programmer, you won't really invest in writing the program.

We choose—either to live our lives or to let others live them for us.

It's the nature of reactive people to absolve themselves of responsibility. It's so much safer to say, "I am not responsible." If I say "I am responsible," I might have to say, "I am irresponsible." It

It's the nature of reactive people to absolve themselves of responsibility. It's so much safer to say, "I am not responsible." If I say "I am responsible," I might have to say, "I am irresponsible.

he can only answer to life by answering for his own life;

I know this idea is a dramatic paradigm shift for many people. It is so much easier to blame other people, conditioning, or conditions for our own stagnant situation. But we are responsible—"response-able"—to control our lives and to powerfully influence our circumstances by working on be, on what we are.

As humans, our tendency is to play the victim. And unless you're watchful, it will sneak up on you and you'll start blaming outside forces—parents, spouses, bosses, the weather, the government, circumstances, "the Man," whomever—for your problems. In reality, we are not victims. We're agents. We are the creative forces of our lives, and we are free to choose. But we have to be reminded of this all the time.

creation. Returning to the computer metaphor, Habit 1 says, "You are the programmer."Habit 2, then, says, "Write the program." Until you accept the idea that you are responsible, that you are the programmer, you won't really invest in writing the program.