Stephen Covey Quotes
October 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012
More Stephen Covey Quotes
We don't invent our missions, we detect them.
Stephen Covey— As quoted in What Matters Most : The Power of Living Your Values (2001) by Hyrum W. Smith , p. 111
Live out of your imagination , not your history .
Stephen Covey— As quoted in Wake-up Calls : You Don't Have to Sleepwalk through your Life, Love, or Career! (1992) by Eric Allenbaugh, p. 65
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.
Stephen Covey— As quoted in Teaching Sport and Physical Activity : Insights on the Road to Excellence (2003) Paul G. Schempp, p. 79
Courage is not the absence of fear but the awareness that something else is more important.
Stephen Covey— Foreword to Prisoners of our Thoughts : Viktor Frankl's Principles at Work (2004), by Alex Pattakos, p. xThis statement has also been attributed to James Neil Hollingsworth (AKA: Ambrose Redmoon) in an article entitled "No Peaceful Warriors!" for Gnosis Magazine #21, in 1991.
Remember, to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.
Stephen Covey— p. 12 (The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989))
...when you get a good night's sleep and wake up ready to produce throughout the day.
Stephen Covey— The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989, pg. 59)
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
Stephen Covey— p. 101 (The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989))
The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
Stephen Covey— p. 161 (The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989))
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand ; they listen with the intent to reply.
Stephen Covey— p. 239 (The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People (1989))
In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do.
Stephen Covey— Ch. 4 : Primary Greatness, p. 58
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— Ch. 11 (Principle-Centered Leadership (1992))
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— Ch. 11 (Principle-Centered Leadership (1992))
Live the law of love. We encourage obedience to the laws of life when we live the laws of love.
Stephen Covey— Ch. 11 (Principle-Centered Leadership (1992))
Give no answer to contentious arguments or irresponsible accusations. Let such things "fly out open windows" until they spend themselves.
Stephen Covey— Ch. 11 (Principle-Centered Leadership (1992))
Prepare your mind and heart before you prepare your speech . What we say may be less important than how we say it.
Stephen Covey— Ch. 11 (Principle-Centered Leadership (1992))
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— p. 113 (First Things First (1994))
Integrity in the Moment of Choice Quality of life depends on what happens in the space between stimulus and response.
Stephen Covey— p. 167 (First Things First (1994))
THE MOMENT OF CHOICE A moment of choice is a moment of truth. It's the testing point of our character and competence.
Stephen Covey— p. 169 (First Things First (1994))
Spiritual Intelligence represents our drive for meaning and connection with the infinite.
Stephen Covey— p. 53 (Disputed)
We are product of neither nature nor nurture; we are a product of choice, because there is always a space between stimulus and response. As we wisely exercise our power to choose based on principles, the space will become larger.
Stephen Covey— ? p. 62 (Disputed)
Our capacity for production and enjoyment is ?a function, in the last analysis, of our character, our integrity.
Stephen Covey— ?The 8th Habit : From Effectiveness to Greatness? (2004), p. 63?
Retire from your job but never from meaningful projects. If you want to live a long life, you need eustress , that is, a deep sense of meaning and contribution to worthy projects and causes, particularly your intergenerational family.
Stephen Covey— ?The 8th Habit : From Effectiveness to Greatness? (2004), p. 63
Self growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no higher investment.
Stephen Covey— Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, p. 62 (1989)
The power to distinguish between person and performance and to communicate intrinsic worth flows naturally out of our own sense of intrinsic worth.
Stephen Covey— Ch. 11 : Thirty Methods of Influence
