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Stephen Covey

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Famous Stephen Covey Quotes

“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.”

WantEnoughCharacterHandsValuesDealsVisionMissionsBe GoodWhat You WantStatementsEmpoweringCompetenceMission Statement
Book:First Things First
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“We all go through stages. Concerns about appearances, making good impressions, being popular, comparing yourself to others, having unbridled ambition, wanting to make money, striving to be recognized and noticed and trying to establish yourself, all fade as your responsibilities and character grow.”

TryingCharacterGrowsResponsibilityStageAmbitionConcernStriveAppearanceImpressionMaking MoneyCompareFadesBeing PopularComparing YourselfComparing Yourself To Others
Author:Stephen Covey
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“Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition - such as lifting weights - we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.”

LifeCharacterMotivationalChangeNaturalChallengesHabitOvercomingWeightAdversityMusclesOppositionLiftingOvercoming AdversityParts Of LifeOvercoming ChallengesLife ChallengesAdversity And CharacterOvercoming HardshipLifting WeightsOvercome TrialsDaily Challenges
Book:First Things First Every Day: Daily Reflections- Because Where You're Headed Is More Important Than How Fast You Get There
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“It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize.”

InspirationalHeartPersonsCharacterValuesOrderDealsPrinciplesSecurityFundamentalsPityApologyApologizingFundamental PrinciplesI ApologizeBeing SorryFriendship ApologyPrinciples And Values
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“As you live your values, your sense of identity, integrity, control, and inner-directedness will infuse you with both exhilaration and peace. You will define yourself from within, rather than by people's opinions or by comparisons to others.”

PeopleCharacterValuesOpinionIdentityIntegrityComparisonExhilarationDefine Yourself
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“The character ethic, which I believe to be the foundation of success, teaches that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.”

PeopleBelieveCharacterBeliefI BelievePrinciplesTeachEthicsFoundationEndureIntegratingBasic PrinciplesTrue Success
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are. And if our words and our actions come from superficial human relations techniques (the Personality Ethic) rather than from our own inner core (the Character Ethic), others will sense that duplicity. We simply won't be able to create and sustain the foundation necessary for effective interdependence.”

IfsLifeHumansImportantCharacterAbleActionChangeRelationshipPersonalityMoralityIntegrityEthicsRelationFoundationTechniqueCoreIngredientsSuperficialOur ActionsHuman RelationsHuman RelationshipsOur WordsInterdependenceDuplicity
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“Character grows in the soil of experience with the fertilization of example, the moisture of ambition, and the sunshine of satisfaction. Character cannot be purchased, bargained for, inherited, rented or imported from afar. It must be home-grown. Purely intellectual development without commensurate internal character development makes as much sense as putting a high-powered sports car in the hands of a teenager who is high on drugs. Yet all too often in the academic world, that's exactly what we do by not focusing on the character development of young people.”

PeopleWorldCharacterHomeHandsYoungGrowsSportsCarExampleDevelopmentDrugAmbitionIntellectualSatisfactionTeenagerSoilInternalsSunshineAcademicCharacter DevelopmentAfarMoistureSports CarsIntellectual DevelopmentFertilization
Author:Stephen Covey
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“The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focused on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.”

KnowsWayWantMindEndsPhilosophyCharacterValuesPrinciplesFocusAchievementMissionsFocusedWhat You WantStatementsContributionCreedsMission StatementPersonal MissionPersonal Mission Statement
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.”

CharacterMotivationalVirtueHabitConstantPatternsConsistentGood HabitsCompositesDaily HabitsBest Character
Book:The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Interactive Edition
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“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.”

TryingFirstsMeanSelfCharacterPersonalityVictoryPromiseApproachPersonal DevelopmentImprovementMotivePrivacyImprovingEffectivenessParadigmRelationships With OthersInterpersonalKeeping PromisesInterpersonal Relationship
Author:Stephen Covey
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“We develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and obstacles.”

CharacterChallengesOvercomingObstaclesMusclesOppositionLooking ForwardOvercoming AdversityOvercoming ChallengesLife ChallengesAdversity And CharacterOvercoming HardshipObstacles And ChallengesOvercome TrialsDaily Challenges
Book:First Things First Every Day: Daily Reflections- Because Where You're Headed Is More Important Than How Fast You Get There
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“You will never be able to truly step inside another person, to see the world as he sees it, until you develop the pure desire, the strength of personal character, and the positive Emotional Bank Account, as well as the empathetic listening skills to do it.”

WorldWellsPersonsCharacterMotivationalAbleDesireStepsEmotionalListeningPureSkillsAccountsBank AccountsEmpatheticPersonal Character
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“It is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.”

TryingCharacterPersonalityPersonal DevelopmentImprovingRelationships With OthersInterpersonalKeeping PromisesInterpersonal Relationship
Book:The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Interactive Edition
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“If I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other-while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity-then, in the long run, I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do-even using so-called good human relations techniques-will be perceived as manipulative.”

PeopleIfsWantTryingHumansLongCharacterUseRunningSuccessfulInfluenceRelationStrategyTechniqueLike MeBeing SuccessfulMotivatedLong RunsDistrustTacticsFlawedHuman RelationsManipulativeInsincerityDuplicity
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“You may be good, but what are you good for? You've got to be good for something. You've got to be about some project, some task that requires you to be humble and obedient to the universal principles of service. You've got to live a life of complete and total integrity in order to give this kind of service. This integrity enables you to love other people unconditionally, to be courageous and kind at the same time, because you have integratedness inside your own soul.”

PeopleGivingKindMaySoulCharacterOrderPrinciplesIntegrityProjectsTasksUniversalHumbleBe GoodCourageousObedientBe HumbleBe Courageous
Author:Stephen Covey
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“To me, the essence of keeping the soul nourished is obedience to one's conscience. I don't think that the soul can be nourished unless people have a strong sense of conscience that they have educated and developed and soaked in the universal and timeless principles of integrity and service. This way, the individual's soul becomes part of the universal soul of service, contribution, and making a difference.”

PeopleThinkingWaySoulCharacterIndividualStrongDifferencesPrinciplesIntegrityConscienceEssenceUniversalEducatedObedienceContributionMaking A DifferenceTimeless
Author:Stephen Covey
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