Stephen R. Covey Quotes

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

“The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.”

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

“The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

“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.”

“Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.”

“Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase.”

“Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”

“You have to water the flowers you want to grow.”

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

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).”

“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.”

“Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses. Don’t argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it immediately.”

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

“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.”

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

“When one side benefits more than the other, that's a win-lose situation. To the winner it might look like success for a while, but in the long run, it breeds resentment and distrust.”

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

“My experience has been that there are times to teach and times not to teach. When relationships are strained and the air charged with emotion, an attempt to teach is often perceived as a form of judgment and rejection.”

“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.”

“Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.”

“Interdependence is a choice only independent people can make.”

“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.”

“To live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.”

“If you carefully consider what you wanted to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.”

“Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own efforts. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.”

“Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

“You can buy a person’s hand, but you can’t buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is. You can buy his back, but you can’t buy his brain. That’s where his creativity is, his ingenuity, his resourcefulness.”

“Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication.”

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

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

“Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people. But it takes time and patience, and it doesn’t preclude the necessity to train and develop people so that their competency can rise to the level of that trust.”