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Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey Quotes

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Famous Stephen Covey Quotes

“Once we are self-aware, we must choose purposes and principles to live by; otherwise the vacuum will be filled, and we will lose our self-awareness and become like groveling animals who live primarily for survival and propagation. People who exist on that level aren't living; they are "being lived".”

PeopleSelfLyingPurposeLosesAnimalLevelsPrinciplesAwarenessSurvivalUniqueSelf AwarenessFilledPersonal DevelopmentLive ByVacuumsReactingDormantEndowmentPropagationGroveling
Author:Stephen Covey
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“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.”

PeopleFirstsPastOur LivesDesignCreationHabitCircumstancesPersonal DevelopmentAgendasProactive
Book:The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Interactive Edition
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“All things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious design. In our personal lives, if we do not develop our own self-awareness and become responsible for first creations, we empower other people and circumstances outside our Circle of Influence to shape much of our lives by default. We reactively live the scripts handed to us by family, associates, other people's agendas, the pressures of circumstance - scripts from our earlier years, from our training, our conditioning.”

PeopleIfsYearsFirstsSelfValuesVisionOur LivesInfluenceAwarenessDesignCreationCircumstancesShapesTrainingConsciousAll ThingsPressureResponsibleSelf AwarenessScriptsCirclesEmpoweringAgendasLive ByAssociatesPersonal LifeConditioningDefaultCircle Of Influence
Author:Stephen Covey
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“Our lives are the results of our choices. To blame and accuse other people, the environment, or other extrinsic factors is to choose to empower those things to control us.”

PeopleChoicesResultsEnvironmentOur LivesBlameFactorsEmpoweringOur ChoicesLynching
Book:The Stephen R. Covey Interactive Reader - 4 Books in 1: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and the Best of the Most Renowned Leadership Teacher of our Time
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“I believe that correct principles are natural laws, and that God, the Creator and Father of us all, is the source of them, and also the source of our conscience. I believe that to the degree people live by this inspired conscience, they will grow to fulfill their natures; to the degree that they do not, they will not rise above the animal plane.”

PeopleBelieveLawFatherI BelieveGrowsNaturalAnimalPrinciplesSourceDegreesConscienceInspiredCreatorPlanesLive ByRise AboveNatural Law
Book:The Stephen R. Covey Interactive Reader - 4 Books in 1: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and the Best of the Most Renowned Leadership Teacher of our Time
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“Valuing differences is what really drives synergy. Do you truly value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences among people? Or do you wish everyone would just agree with you so you could all get along? Many people mistake uniformity for unity; sameness for oneness. One word--boring! Differences should be seen as strengths, not weaknesses. They add zest to life.”

PeopleShouldValuesWishDifferencesMistakeEmotionalWeaknessAgreeAddUnityBoringPsychologicalOnenessOne WordUniformitySamenessZestSynergy
Author:Stephen Covey
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“Highly proactive people don't blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice.”

PeopleChoicesConditionsProductsCircumstancesBehaviorConsciousBlameConditioningProactive
Book:The Stephen R. Covey Interactive Reader - 4 Books in 1: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, First Things First, and the Best of the Most Renowned Leadership Teacher of our Time
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“When two people in a marriage are more concerned about getting the golden eggs, the benefits, than they are in preserving the relationship that makes them possible, they often become insensitive and inconsiderate, neglecting the little kindnesses and courtesies so important to a deep relationship. They begin to use control levers to manipulate each other, to focus on their own needs, to justify their own position and look for evidence to show the wrongness of the other person. The love, the richness, the softness and spontaneity begin to deteriorate.”

PeopleLoveNeedsLooksLittlesPersonsTwoImportantUseShowsAgeKindnessFocusPositionBenefitsEvidenceConcernedGoldenJustifyEggsNeglectManipulateCourtesyRichnessSpontaneitySoftnessInsensitiveLeversInconsiderateGolden EggsDeep Relationship
Book:Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE Every Day
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“If two people have the same opinion, one is unnecessary. ... I don't want to talk, to communicate, with someone who agrees with me; I want to communicate with you because you see it differently. I value that difference.”

PeopleIfsWantTwoValuesDifferencesOpinionAgreeCommunicateUnnecessaryCooperative Learning
Book:The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
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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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