Stephen Covey Quotes
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When you listen with empathy to another person, you give that person psychological air.
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Communication is the most important skill in life. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. But consider this: You've spent years learning how to read and write, years learning how to speak. But what about listening?
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It's like the more you know the more you know you don't know.
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Life is not accumulation, it is about contribution.
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If you organize your family life to spend even ten or fifteen minutes a morning reading something that connects you with these timeless principles, its almost guaranteed that you will make better choices during the day--in the family, on the job, in every dimension of life. Your thoughts will be higher. Your interactions will be more satisfying. You will have a greater perspective. You will increase that space between what happens to you and your response to it. You will be more connected to what really matters most.
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You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.
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Actually I did not invent the seven habits, they are universal principles and most of what I wrote about is just common sense. I am embarrassed when people talk about the Covey Habits, and dislike the idea of being some sort of guru.
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The key to growth is to learn to make promises and to keep them.
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Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.
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Love - the feeling - is a fruit of love, the verb.
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The only person I know, is the person I want to be
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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.
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We're constantly making choices about the way we spend our time. The issue is not between the good and the bad, but between the good and the best. So often, the enemy of the best is the good.
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Seek to understand rather than be understood.
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Success comes from the ability to view each arising problem as an opportunity for self improvement.
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Consequences are governed by principles, and behavior is governed by values; therefore, value principles!
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Being humble does not mean being weak, reticent, or self-effacing. It means recognizing principle and putting it ahead of self. It means standing firmly for principle, even in the fact of opposition.
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Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree. "What are you doing?" you ask. "Can't you see?" comes the impatient reply. "I'm sawing down this tree." "You look exhausted!" you exclaim. "How long have you been at it?" "Over five hours," he returns, "and I'm beat! This is hard work." 'Well, why don't you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?" you inquire. "I'm sure it would go a lot faster." "I don't have time to sharpen the saw," the man says emphatically. "I'm too busy sawing!"
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There are three constants in life... change, choice and principles.
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Almost every significant breakthrough is the result of a courageous break with traditional ways of thinking.
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One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present.
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But borrowing strength builds weakness.
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Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
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Self-mastery and self-discipline are the foundation of good relationships with others.