Top 745 Quotes & Sayings by Stephen Covey - Page 2

My parents were just constantly affirming me in everything that I did. Late at night, I'd wake up and hear my mother talking over my bed, saying, 'You're going to do great on this test. You can do anything you want.'

Despite all our gains in technology, product innovation and world markets, most people are not thriving in the organizations they work for.

Public behavior is merely private character writ large.

Studies have identified a significant 'skills gap' between what students are currently being taught and the skills employers are seeking in today's global economy. Our children must be better prepared than they are now to meet the future challenges of our ever-changing world.

When we value correct principles, we have truth - a knowledge of things as they are.

Most negotiators are trying to get their way.

One of the things that I have admired about India is the spiritualism of the people.

How can you possibly reconcile the justice of God with the idea that only through Christ can you be saved? Most of the world lives and dies and never even hears of Christ. There has to be some mechanism set up for all those who have ever lived to have an opportunity to hear of Christ.

The average family spends 30 hours in front of a television, and they say they don't have the time to have a balanced, integrated life.

Both times I was in India, I could not get people to listen to each other. I had to literally tell people to listen to each other and tell them that they can't get creative and find alternate solutions if they don't listen to each other. There's a lot of arguing and justifying.

The world has entered an era of the most profound and challenging change in human history.

Historically, the family has played the primary role in educating children for life, with the school providing supplemental scaffolding to the family.

There's strong data that, within companies, the No. 1 reason for ethical violations is the pressure to meet expectations, sometimes unrealistic expectations.

Everyone must be proactive and do all they can to help themselves to stay employed.

In this knowledge-worker age, it's now increasingly tied to doing well in school so you can get into better grad schools so you can get better jobs - so the pressure to do well is really high.

I affirm to you the tremendous potential you have, not beyond anything you could ever imagine.

A little over 5% of the world's population produces almost 29% of the world's goods and services.

You're not a product of your nature. That is your genetic makeup or your nurture, the things that have happened to you. Of course those things affect you powerfully, but they do not determine you.

A cardinal principle of Total Quality escapes too many managers: you cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.

We need to have business leaders who live by deep, strong principles.

But with the steady disintegration of the family in modern society over the last century, the role of the school in bridging the gap has become vital!

It's amazing how confused and distracted and misdirected so many people are.

The solutions to our problems are and always will be based upon universal, timeless, self-evident principles common to every enduring, prospering society throughout history.

Employers and business leaders need people who can think for themselves - who can take initiative and be the solution to problems.

There is a heavy emphasis in Mormonism on initiative, on responsibility, on a work ethic, and on education. If you take those elements together with a free-enterprise system, you've got the chemistry for a lot of industry.

Some habits of ineffectiveness are rooted in our social conditioning toward quick-fix, short-term thinking.

Want balance in your life? Then sure, get your own act together, but don't forget four powerful disciplines of execution in your team and organization.

Outsourcing is inevitable, and I don't think it's necessarily treating people like things.

Family home evening is more for the purpose of teaching values and gospel principles, displaying talents and enjoying different kinds of family fun and activities.

Most people are basically a victim of the circumstances of their life. They have things like 9/11, they have terrorism threats, they have new war threats, they have economy problems, and they think, 'What can I do? I'm basically a victim.'

The spirit of America has nurtured responsibility and community unlike any other country.

When the external factors over which one has no control in a way start to become negative, it starts to affect our creative juices.

Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value.

When one side benefits more than the other, that's a win-lose situation. To the winner it might look like success for a while, but in the long run, it breeds resentment and distrust.

Trust is central to an economy that works.

Every time I see high-trust cultures, I see a lessening of adversarialism.

It's a fact that more people watch television and get their information that way than read books. I find new technology and new ways of communication very exciting and would like to do more in this field.

For me, the essence of the great American Dream is spiritual. I believe that our Constitution is inspired and that it is based on principles that are timeless and universal. This is the reason why 95% of all written constitutions throughout the world are modeled after our Constitution.

I believe in Coach Louis Wong. He is so much more than just a football coach.

The roots of the problems we face in the world, in our national life, and in our family and personal lives are spiritual.

Mind over mattress.

Light is the greatest disinfectant in nature and also in organizations.

The way we see the problem is the problem.

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

To live; to love; to learn; and to leave a legacy.

Look at the word responsibility-"response-ability"-the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.

You can't change the fruit without changing the root.

The amateur salesman sells products; the professional sells solutions to needs and problems.

You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

Management works in the system; leadership works on the system.

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.

Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. You can buy a person's hand, but you can't buy his heart; his heart is where his enthusiasm is. You can buy his back, but you can't buy his brain. That's where his creativity is. Treat employees as volunteers just as you treat customers as volunteers, because that's what they are. They volunteer the best parts - their hearts and minds.

Too many vacations that last too long, too many movies, too much TV, too much video game playing - too much undisciplined leisure time in which a person continually takes the course of least resistance gradually wastes a life. It ensures that a person's capacities stay dormant, that talents remain undeveloped, that the mind and spirit become lethargic and that the heart remains unfulfilled.

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.

Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

We immediately become more effective when we decide to change ourselves rather than asking things to change for us.

All things are created twice; first mentally; then physically. The key to creativity is to begin with the end in mind, with a vision and a blue print of the desired result.

To achieve goals you've never achieved before, you need to start doing things you've never done before.

Communication is the most important skill in life. We spend most of our waking hours communicating. But consider this: You've spent years learning how to read and write, years learning how to speak. But what about listening?