Stephen Covey was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. His other books include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit, and The Leader In Me — How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “There are three constants in life – change, choice and principles.” Stephen Covey
2. “Make time for planning; Wars are won in the general’s tent.” Stephen Covey
3. “Be proactive.” Stephen Covey
4. “Begin with the end in mind.” Stephen Covey
5. “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smiling, nonapoloegetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside.” Stephen Covey
6. “Put first things first.” Stephen Covey
7. “Think win-win.” Stephen Covey
8. “Seek first to understand, and then to be understood.” Stephen Covey
9. “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand. Most people listen with the intent to reply.” Stephen Covey
10. “If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting.” Stephen Covey
11. “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 Covey
12. “Treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” Stephen Covey
13. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen Covey
14. “Leadership is a choice, not a position.” Stephen Covey
15. “I am not a product of my circumstances, I am a product of my decisions.” Stephen Covey
16. “Strength lies in differences not in similarities.” Stephen Covey
17. “Listen with your eyes for feelings.” Stephen Covey
18. “The way we see the problem is the problem.” Stephen Covey
19. “Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.” Stephen Covey
20. “Accountability breeds response-ability.” Stephen Covey
21. “Highly proactive people don’t blame circumstances, conditions or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior of their own conscious choice.” Stephen Covey
22. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Stephen Covey
23. “Be a light not a judge. Be a model not a choice. be part of the solution not part of the problem.” Stephen Covey
24. “He who has a why can deal with any what or how.” Stephen Covey
25. “Our ultimate freedom is the right and power anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.” Stephen Covey
26. “The only thing that endures over time is the Law of the Farm. You must prepare the ground, plant the seed, cultivate, and water it if you expect to reap the harvest.” Stephen Covey
27. “A personal mission statement becomes the DNA for every other decision we make.” Stephen Covey
28. “Courage is not the absence of fear but the awareness that something else is more important.” Stephen Covey
29. “To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before you need to start doing things you’ve never done before.” Stephen Covey
30. “Live out of your imagination, not your history.” Stephen Covey
31. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” Stephen Covey
32. “Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom. The power to choose, to respond, to change.” Stephen Covey
33. “I teach people how to treat me by what I will allow.” Stephen Covey
34. “Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else trie to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” Stephen Covey
35. “You can change the fruit without changing the root.” Stephen Covey
36. “Our character is basically a composite of our habits because they are consistent. Often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.” Stephen Covey
37. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” Stephen Covey
38. “If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself.” Stephen Covey
39. “Once you have a clear picture of your priorities that is values, goals, and high leverage activities, organize your life around them.” Stephen Covey
40. “What you do has greater impact than what you say.” Stephen Covey
