Stephen Covey Quotes

345 Sourced Quotes

Someone once inquired of a Far Eastern Zen master, who had a great serenity and peace about him no matter what pressures he faced, "How do you maintain that serenity and peace?" He replied, "I never leave my place of meditation." He meditated early in the morning and for the rest of the day, he carried the peace of those moments with him in his mind and heart.

Stephen Covey
Trust is the glue that holds everything together. It creates the environment in which all of the other elements — win-win stewardship agreements, self-directing individuals and teams, aligned structures and systems, and accountability — can flourish.

Stephen Covey
Self growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no higher investment.

Stephen Covey
A good affirmation has five basic ingredients: it's personal, it's positive, it's present tense, it's visual, and it's emotional.

Stephen Covey
... when you get a good night's sleep and wake up ready to produce throughout the day.

Stephen Covey
When you make a commitment to yourself, do so with the clear understanding that you're pledging your integrity.

Stephen Covey
We see the world, not as it is, but as we are──or, as we are conditioned to see it.

Stephen Covey
Spiritual Intelligence represents our drive for meaning and connection with the infinite.

Stephen Covey
We judge ourselves by our intentions. And others by their actions.

Stephen Covey
There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase 'to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.' The need to leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, personal congruence, and contribution.

Stephen Covey
Perform anonymous service. Whenever we do good for others anonymously, our sense of intrinsic worth and self-respect increases. … Selfless service has always been one of the most powerful methods of influence.

Stephen Covey
Unless we exercise our power to choose wisely, our actions will be determined by conditions. Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.

Stephen Covey
Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education.

Stephen Covey
As you begin to think more in terms of importance, you begin to see time differently.

Stephen Covey
When parents see their children's problems as opportunities to build the relationship instead of as negative, burdensome irritations, it totally changes the nature of parent-child interaction. Parents become more willing, even excited, about deeply understanding and helping their children.... This paradigm is powerful in business as well.

Stephen Covey
The proactive approach to a mistake is to acknowledge it instantly, correct and learn from it. This literally turns a failure into a success.

Stephen Covey
It's not enough to have values without vision; you want to be good, but you want to be good for something. On the other hand, vision without values can create a Hitler. An empowering mission statement deals with both character and competence; what you want to be and what you want to do in your life.

Stephen Covey
Keep in mind that you are always saying "no" to something. If it isn't to the apparent and urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things.

Stephen Covey
If your ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step you take just gets you to the wrong place faster.

Stephen Covey
Goal setting is obviously a powerful process,... the manifestation of creative imagination and independent will. It's the practicality of... translating vision in achievable, actionable doing.

Stephen Covey
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.

Stephen Covey
While we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can choose our responses.

Stephen Covey
Only as we keep an open communication with our deep inner life will we have the wisdom to make effective choices.

Stephen Covey
Moving along the upward spiral requires us to learn, commit, and do on increasingly higher planes. We deceive ourselves if we think that any one of these is sufficient. To keep progressing, we must learn, commit, and do-learn, commit, and do-and learn, commit, and do again.

Stephen Covey
We accomplish all that we do through delegation - either to time or to other people.

Stephen Covey
A long, healthy, and happy life is the result of making contributions, of having meaningful projects that are personally exciting and contribute to and bless the lives of others.

Stephen Covey
The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, 'Wrong jungle!'... Busy, efficient producers and managers often respond... 'Shut up! We're making progress!'

Stephen Covey
The exercise of true leadership is inversely proportional to the exercise of power.

Stephen Covey
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.

Stephen Covey
People with a scarcity mentality tend to see everything in terms of win-lose. There is only so much; and if someone else has it, that means there will be less for me. The more principle-centered we become, the more we develop an abundance mentality, the more we are genuinely happy for the successes, well-being, achievements, recognition, and good fortune of other people. We believe their success adds to...rather than detracts from...our lives.

Stephen Covey