Top 500 Stephen R. Covey Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes, Business Quotes, Goal Quotes, Time Quotes

2. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Positive Quotes, Relationship Quotes, Short Motivational Quotes, Wisdom Quotes

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

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Communication Quotes

4. “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Success Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Action Quotes, Meaningful Quotes

5. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

— Stephen R. Covey

6. “Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Action Quotes, Positive Inspirational Quotes, Positive Life Quotes, Helping Others Quotes

7. “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.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Goal Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Work, Inspirational Quotes for Work, Inspirational Life Quotes

8. “Start with the end in mind.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Strategy Quotes, Preparation Quotes, Intelligent Quotes, Future Quotes

9. “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Success Quotes, Focus Quotes, Perseverance Quotes, Famous Quotes

10. “Live out of your imagination, not your history.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Courage Quotes, Live Life Quotes, Positive Life Quotes, Inspirational Business Quotes

11. “Make time for planning: Wars are won in the general’s tent.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Strategy Quotes, Quotes About War

12. “Treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Business Quotes, Inspirational Quotes for Work, Inspirational Business Quotes, Empowerment Quotes

13. “There are three constants in life: change, choice and principles.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Life Quotes, Change Quotes, Short Quotes, Live Life Quotes

14. “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Business Quotes, Relationship Quotes, Positive Inspirational Quotes, Positive Motivational Quotes

15. “To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you need to start doing things you’ve never done before.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Motivational Quotes for Work, Short Inspirational Quotes, Motivational Monday Quotes, Motivational Quotes About Life

16. “Proactive people carry their own weather with them.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Short Motivational Quotes, Short Positive Quotes, Positive Motivational Quotes, Positive Work Quotes

17. “Synergy is better than my way or your way. It’s our way.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes for Work, Short Inspiring Quotes, Friday Quotes for Work, Positive Work Quotes

18. “Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Motivational Quotes, Life Quotes, Time Quotes, Thought Provoking Quotes

19. “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Short Motivational Quotes

20. “Leadership is a choice, not a position.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Leadership Quotes, Business Quotes, Interesting Quotes, Short Positive Quotes

21. “Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Success Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Work, Powerful Motivational Quotes, Motivational Monday Quotes

22. “The way we see the problem is the problem.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Perspective Quotes, Quotes About Thinking, Problem-Solving Quotes

23. “Stop setting goals. Goals are pure fantasy unless you have a specific plan to achieve them.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Goal Quotes

24. “Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Relationship Quotes, Values Quotes, Kindness Quotes, Helping Quotes

25. “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Perspective Quotes, Mindset Quotes

26. “One thing’s for sure. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting. One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Different Quotes

27. “It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to understand it, analyze it and appropriately act on it.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes for Work, Coaching Quotes, Professional Growth Quotes, Good Morning Motivational Quotes

28. “What you do has far greater impact than what you say.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Leadership Quotes, Action Quotes, Positive Inspirational Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Success

29. “Taking initiative is a form of self-empowerment.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Focus On Yourself Quotes, Positive Motivation Quotes, Taking Action Quotes, Positive Short Quotes

30. “When you have too many top priorities, you effectively have no top priorities.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Time Management Quotes

31. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Live Life Quotes, Journey Quotes

32. “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Time Quotes, Famous Quotes, Positive Inspirational Quotes, Powerful Motivational Quotes

33. “Accountability breeds response-ability.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Short Quotes, Inspirational Quotes for Work, Accountability Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes

34. “The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Communication Quotes

35. “If the big rocks don’t go in first, they aren’t going to fit in later.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes for Work, Wisdom Quotes, Quotes for Better Decisions, Firsts Quotes

36. “To live; to love; to learn; and to leave a legacy.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Meaning Quotes, Live Life Quotes, Positive Motivation Quotes, Legacy Quotes

37. “Self-awareness involves deep personal honesty. It comes from asking and answering hard questions.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Focus On Yourself Quotes, Self-Realization Quotes, Reflection Quotes

38. “Where you are headed is more important than how fast you are going. Rather than always focusing on what’s urgent, learn to focus on what is really important.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Life Quotes, Focus Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Success, Empowering Quotes

39. “We must never be too busy to take time to sharpen the saw.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Self-Care Quotes, Positive Work Quotes, Work Ethic Quotes, Habit Quotes

40. “People don’t listen to understand. They listen to reply. The collective monologue is everyone talking and no one listening.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Communication Quotes, Quotes About Listening

41. “You always reap what you sow; there is no shortcut.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Values Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Taking Action Quotes, Responsibility Quotes

42. “The essence of synergy is to value differences-to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Teamwork Quotes

43. “If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Reflection Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Personal Development Quotes, Self-Empowerment Quotes

44. “We judge ourselves by our intentions. And others by their actions.”

— Stephen R. Covey

45. “The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Passion Quotes, Freedom Quotes

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

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Failure Quotes, Experience Quotes, Accountability Quotes, Responsibility Quotes

47. “We think we see the world as it is, when in fact we see the world as we are.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Reflection Quotes, Perspective Quotes, Mindset Quotes, Short Deep Quotes

48. “All things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

49. “Win-win is a belief in the Third Alternative. It’s not your way or my way; it’s a better way, a higher way.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Inspirational Business Quotes, Quotes for Better Decisions

50. “When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Featured in: Quotes About Trust