613 Quotes by Stephen R. Covey

Belief is another word for paradigm. It’s a synonymous. Your belief of the way things are. Values are the way things should be, it’s a paradigm of the way things should be. Beliefs are the paradigms of the way things are.

Most people say their main fault is a lack of discipline. On deeper thought, I believe this is not the case. The basic problem is that their priorities have not become deeply planted in their hearts and minds.

My behavior is a product of my own conscious choices based on principles, rather than a product of my conditions, based on feelings.

To blame and accuse other people, is to choose to empower them, to control us.

Communication is the most important single activity of man.

The key to motivation is motive. It’s the why. It’s the deeper yes! burning inside that makes it easier to say no to the less important.

True leadership is moral authority, not formal authority. Leadership is a choice, not a position. The choice is to follow universal timeless principles, which will build trust and respect from the entire organization. Those with formal authority alone will lose this trust and respect.

Whether we are aware of it or not, whether we are in control of it or not, there is a first creation to every part of our lives. We are either the second creation of our own proactive design, or we are the second creation of other people’s agendas, of circumstances, or of past habits.

The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”