Stephen R. Covey Quotes

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

“Begin with the end in mind.”

“All things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.”

“Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.”

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

“Taking initiative is a form of self-empowerment.”

“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.”

“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are—or, as we are conditioned to see it.”

“Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.”

“We are not our feelings. We are not our moods. We are not even our thoughts. The very fact that we can think about these things separates us from them and from the animal world.”

“In the space between stimulus (what happens) and how we respond, lies our freedom to choose. Ultimately, this power to choose is what defines us as human beings. We may have limited choices but we can always choose. We can choose our thoughts, emotions, moods, our words, our actions; we can choose our values and live by principles. It is the choice of acting or being acted upon.”

“There’s no better way to inform and expand your mind on a regular basis than to get into the habit of reading good literature.”

“Writing distills, crystallizes, and clarifies thought and helps break the whole into parts.”

“The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions.”

“It’s not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.”

“The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values—carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.”

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

“The way we see the problem is the problem.”

“Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education.”

“Anytime we think the problem is ‘out there,’ that thought is the problem. We empower what’s out there to control us.”

“People simply feel better about themselves when they’re good at something.”

“If you don’t let a teacher know what level you are - by asking a question, or revealing your ignorance - you will not learn or grow.”

“As you care less about what people think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves.”

“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.”

“Borrowing strength builds weakness.”

“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.”

“If you want small changes in your life, work on your attitude. But if you want big and primary changes, work on your paradigm.”

“Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential.”

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.”

“Accountability breeds response-ability.”

“It is one thing to make a mistake, and quite another thing not to admit it. People will forgive mistakes, because mistakes are usually of the mind, mistakes of judgment. But people will not easily forgive the mistakes of the heart, the ill intention, the bad motives, the prideful justifying cover-up of the first mistake.”

“You can’t talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into!”

“How you treat the one reveals how you regard the many, because everyone is ultimately a one.”

“To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground.”

“Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

“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.’”

“If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control - myself.”

“Wisdom is the child of integrity—being integrated around principles. And integrity is the child of humility and courage.”

“Remember, it isn’t the snake bite that does the serious damage; it’s chasing the snake that drives the poison to the heart.”

“Love is a verb. Love - the feeling - is the fruit of love the verb or our loving actions.”

“If we do not teach our children, society will. And they - and we - will live with the results.”

“Live out of your imagination, not your history.”

“Through imagination, we can visualize the uncreated worlds of potential that lie within us.”

“People are working harder than ever, but because they lack clarity and vision, they aren’t getting very far. They, in essence, are pushing a rope… with all of their might.”

“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.”

“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.”

“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.”

“Did you ever consider how ridiculous it would be to try to cram on a farm, to forget to plant in the spring, play all summer and then cram in the fall to bring in the harvest? The farm is a natural system. The price must be paid and the process followed. You always reap what you sow; there is no shortcut.”

“Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.”

“What you do has far greater impact than what you say.”