Stephen R. Covey

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.

As a principle-centered person you try to stand apart from the emotion of the situation and from other factors that would act on you, and evaluate the options. Looking at the balanced whole–the work needs, the family needs, the other needs that may be involved, and the possible implications of the various alternatives — you’ll try to come up with the best solution taking all factors into consideration. We are limited but we can push back the borders of our limitations.

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

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.

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

Accountability breeds responsibility.

I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.

Remember that failure is an event, not a person.

Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life – all areas of life. The really good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.

You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel, but not about how good people think you are or how good people think you look.

I quit therapy because my analyst was trying to help me behind my back.

The person who dumps garbage into your mind will do you considerably more harm than the person who dumps garbage on your floor, because each load of mind garbage negatively impacts your possibilities and lowers your expectations.

I’m so optimistic, I’d go after Moby Dick in a rowboat and take the tartar sauce with me.

Yesterday ended last night. Today is a brand-new day.

If you want truly to understand something, try to change it.

We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community.

Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.

Focus on what you can control: your actions. How you react to negative feelings will be the key to your success.

I only work with the best.

The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.

Focus is essential to success, and successful people are people who can focus.