Stephen R. Covey Quotes

To maintain the P/PC Balance, the balance between the golden egg (production) and the health and welfare of the goose (production capability) is often a difficult judgment call. But I suggest it is the very essence of effectiveness.
Stephen R. Covey
Anything less than a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.
Stephen R. Covey
Being is seeing in the human dimension.
Stephen R. Covey
Start with the end in mind.
Stephen R. Covey
Independent will is our capacity to act. It gives us the power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to rewrite our scripts, to act based on principle rather than reacting based on emotion or circumstance.
Stephen R. Covey
My friend, love is a verb. Love—the feeling—is a fruit of love, the verb. So love her. Serve her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her. Are you willing to do that?
Stephen R. Covey
A series problem with a reactive language is that it become a self-fulfilling prophecy, People become reinforced in the paradigm that they are determined, and they produce evidence to support the belief, They ( Reactive People) 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
Stephen R. Covey
Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential.
Stephen R. Covey
Strength lies in differences, not in similarities
Stephen R. Covey
People who end up with the good jobs are the proactive ones who are solutions to problems, not problems themselves, who seize the initiative to do whatever is necessary, consistent with correct principles, to get the job done.
Stephen R. Covey
Attending church does not necessarily mean living the principles taught in those meeting. You can be active in a church but inactive in its gospel.
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 andhe will become as he can and should be.
Stephen R. Covey
The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply.
Stephen R. Covey
Unless there are good feelings between people, reasoning intelligently is almost impossible.
Stephen R. Covey
You must be open and influenceable; then ironically, you will also discover an increase in your own power to influence
Stephen R. Covey
It comes from within.
Stephen R. Covey
How you treat the one reveals how youregard the many, because everyone is ultimately a one.
Stephen R. Covey
A moment of choice is a moment of truth. It's the testing point of our character and competence.
Stephen R. Covey
But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.
Stephen R. Covey
It is character that communicates most eloquently.
Stephen R. Covey
We hear a lot about identity theft when someone takes your wallet and pretends to be you and uses your credit cards. But the more serious identity theft is to get swallowed up in other people's definition of you.
Stephen R. Covey
Principles are the simplicity on the far side of complexity.
Stephen R. Covey
All the well-meaning advice in the world won't amount to a hill of beans if we're not even addressing the real problem.
Stephen R. Covey
People simply feel better about themselves when they’re good at something.
Stephen R. Covey
He (Anwar Sadat) records that he was almost loathe to leave his prison cell because it was there that he realized that real success is success with self. It’s not in having things, but in having mastery, having victory over self.
Stephen R. Covey
The PC principle is to always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.
Stephen R. Covey
When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.
Stephen R. Covey
to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.
Stephen R. Covey
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level ofthinking we were at when we created them. - Albert Einstein
Stephen R. Covey
Where westand depends on where we sit.
Stephen R. Covey
I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,
Stephen R. Covey
But borrowing strength builds weakness.
Stephen R. Covey
Is it logical that two people can disagree and that both can be right? It's not logical: it's psychological. And it's very real.
Stephen R. Covey
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.
Stephen R. Covey
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, our perceptions, our paradigms.
Stephen R. Covey
We must look at the lens through we see the world, as well as the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.
Stephen R. Covey
Courage isn't absenct of fear, it is the awareness that something else is important
Stephen R. Covey
Your economic security does not lie in your job; it lies in your own power to produce- to think, to learn, to create, to adapt. That's true financial independence. It's not having wealth; it's having the power to produce wealth. It's intrinsic.
Stephen R. Covey
The core of any family is what is changeless, what is going to be there──shared vision and values.
Stephen R. Covey
I believe that days one and two for most of us involve getting more control over the body-such as getting to be early, arising early, exercising regularly, eating in moderation, staying at our work when necessary even when tired. Too many are trying to conquer higher weaknesses such as procrastination, impatience or pride while still being slaves to their appetites. If we can’t control the body and its appetites, how can we control our tongues, or overcome the emotions or anger, envy, jealousy, or hatred?
Stephen R. Covey
Live out of your imagination, not your history.
Stephen R. Covey
Live out of your imagination, not your history.
Stephen R. Covey
churchgoing is not synonymous with personal spirituality. There are some people who get so busy in church worship and projects that they become insensitive to the pressing human needs that sourround them, contradicting the very precepts they profess to believe deeply.
Stephen R. Covey
Through real-life stories, Kristin Kaufman illustrates the core idea of being present in the moment and opening oneself up to new ideas in order to become an authentic leader in life.
Stephen R. Covey
People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them. The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value.
Stephen R. Covey
People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them.
Stephen R. Covey
To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.
Stephen R. Covey
There's no better way to inform and expand you mind on a regular basis than to get into the habit of reading good literature.
Stephen R. Covey
All of us are interested in things outside of our stewardships, and we should be, but the most important way to do anything about them is to magnify our own stewardships. When you focus on your own responsibility, you become relatively unconcerned with other peoples stewardships...The highest form of influence is to be a model, not a critic; a light, not a judge.
Stephen R. Covey
people have character strength but they lack communication skills, and that undoubtedly affects the quality of relationships as well.
Stephen R. Covey
My wife and I just don't have the same feelings for each other we used to have. I guess I just don't love her anymore and she doesn't love me. What can i do?""The feeling isn't there anymore?" I asked."That's right," he reaffirmed. "And we have three children we're really concerned about. What do you suggest?""love her," I replied."I told you, the feeling just isn't there anymore.""Love her.""You don't understand. the feeling of love just isn't there.""Then love her. If the feeling isn't there, that's a good reason to love her.""But how do you love when you don't love?" "My friend , love is a verb. Love - the feeling - is a fruit of love, the verb. So love her. Serve her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her. Are you willing to do that?
Stephen R. Covey
Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.
Stephen R. Covey
The purpose of teaching is learning and learning is changed behavior.
Stephen R. Covey
Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education
Stephen R. Covey
Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education.
Stephen R. Covey
Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).
Stephen R. Covey
We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen R. Covey
Just as faith without works is dead, so also works without faith.
Stephen R. Covey
Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.
Stephen R. Covey
They [Nazi captors]had more liberty, more options to choose from in their environment; but he [Viktor Frankl] had more freedom, more internal power to exercise his options.
Stephen R. Covey