Quotes by Stephen R. Covey

“Perhaps nothing in our society is more needed for those in positions of authority than accountability. Too often those with authority are able (and willing) to surround themselves with people who support their decisions without question.”

“Accountability breeds response-ability.”

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”

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

“The Inside-Out approach to personal and interpersonal effectiveness means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self / with your paradigms, your character, and your motives. The inside-out approach says that private victories precede public victories, that making and keeping promises to ourselves recedes making and keeping promises to others. It says it is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.”

“Dont argue for other peoples weaknesses. Dont argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it / immediately.”

“Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.”

“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”

“Nothing is more exciting and bonding in relationships than creating together”

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

“The key is not to prioritize whats on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

“To focus on technique is like cramming your way through school. You sometimes get by, perhaps even get good grades, but if you dont pay the price day in and day out, youll never achieve true mastery of the subjects you study or develop an educated mind.”

“We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are or the way they should be. And our attitudes and behaviors grow out of these assumptions.”

“We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin with the end in mind.”

“How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most”

“Private victories precede public victories. You cant invert that process any more than you can harvest a crop before you plant it.”

“The way we see the problem is the problem”

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood”

“Security represents your sense of worth, your identity, your emotional anchorage, your self-esteem, your basic personal strength or lack of it.”

“You cant live principals you cant understand.”