Top 500 Stephen R. Covey Quotes (2026 Update)
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451. “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.”

— Stephen R. Covey

452. “Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.”

— Stephen R. Covey

453. “Management is clearly different from leadership. Leadership is primarily a high-powered, right-brain activity. It’s more of an art it’s based on a philosophy. You have to ask the ultimate questions of life when you’re dealing with personal leadership issues.”

— Stephen R. Covey

454. “Without trust, the best we can do is compromise.”

— Stephen R. Covey

455. “You are dependent if you allow the weaknesses of other people to ruin your emotional life!”

— Stephen R. Covey

456. “Independent will is our capacity to act. It gives us the power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to rewrite our scripts, to act based on principle rather than reacting based on emotion or circumstance.”

— Stephen R. Covey

457. “Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. It also includes the capacity to overcome deeply embedded habits and to cultivate higher, more effective ones.”

— Stephen R. Covey

458. “People who exercise their embryonic freedom day after day, little by little, expand that freedom. People who do not will find that it withers until they are literally ‘being lived.’ They are acting out scripts written by parents, associates, and society.”

— Stephen R. Covey

459. “Attending church does not necessarily mean living the principles taught in those meeting. You can be active in a church but inactive in its gospel.”

— Stephen R. Covey

460. “I think the most significant work we’ll do in our whole life, in our whole world is done within the four walls of our home.”

— Stephen R. Covey

461. “Employers and business leaders need people who can think for themselves – who can take initiative and be the solution to problems.”

— Stephen R. Covey

462. “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.”

— Stephen R. Covey

463. “Before a performance, a sales presentation, a difficult confrontation, or the daily challenge of meeting a goal, see it clearly, vividly, relentlessly, over and over again. Create an internal “comfort zone”. Then, when you get into the situation, it isn’t foreign. It doesn’t scare you.”

— Stephen R. Covey

464. “We are limited but we can push back the borders of our limitations.”

— Stephen R. Covey

465. “Affirm people. Affirm your children. Believe in them, not in what you see but in what you don’t see – their potential.”

— Stephen R. Covey

466. “We value the clock for its speed and efficiency. The clock has its place, efficiency has its place, after effectiveness. The symbol of effectiveness is the compass a sense of direction, purpose, vision, perspective, and balance. But the empowerment process itself is not efficient.”

— Stephen R. Covey

467. “When it comes to developing character strength, inner security and unique personal and interpersonal talents and skills in a child, no institution can or ever will compare with, or effectively substitute for, the home’s potential for positive influence.”

— Stephen R. Covey

468. “Unfortunately, too many executives believe the myths about trust. Myths like how trust is soft and is merely a social virtue. The reality is that trust is hard-edged and is an economic driver.”

— Stephen R. Covey

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

— Stephen R. Covey

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

— Stephen R. Covey

471. “Only 20 percent of employees working in large organizations surveyed feel their strengths are in play every day. Thus, eight our of ten employees surveyed feel somewhat miscast in their role.”

— Stephen R. Covey

472. “The highest challenge inside organizations is to enable each person to contribute his or her unique talents and passion to accomplish the organization’s purpose.”

— Stephen R. Covey

473. “The great apparent dichotomy is that the more we give, the more we get.”

— Stephen R. Covey

474. “My temptation is emotional, and resisting will further my needed weight loss and strengthen my character. Furthermore, nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”

— Stephen R. Covey

475. “Brands need to reinvent themselves from time to time to stay relevant.”

— Stephen R. Covey

476. “When your happiness comes primarily from the happiness of others, you know you have moved from a ‘me’ experience to a ‘we’ experience. And the whole problem-solving and opportunity-seizing process changes.”

— Stephen R. Covey

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

— Stephen R. Covey

478. “Suddenly I saw things differently, and because I saw differently, I thought differently, I felt differently, I behaved differently.”

— Stephen R. Covey

479. “In the words of both Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

— Stephen R. Covey

480. “Perhaps a sense of possessing needs to come to come before a sense of genuine sharing.”

— Stephen R. Covey

481. “Everyone has values; even criminal gangs have values. Values govern people’s behavior but principles govern the consequences of those behaviors.”

— Stephen R. Covey

482. “To judge individuals before understanding them is a form of human rejection and feeds upon itself.”

— Stephen R. Covey

483. “Trust is central to an economy that works.”

— Stephen R. Covey

484. “The proactive approach is to change from the inside-out: to be different, and by being different, to effect positive change in what’s out there – I can be more resourceful, I can be more diligent, I can be more creative, I can be more cooperative.”

— Stephen R. Covey

485. “For our purposes, a simple way to understand paradigms is to see them as maps. We all know that “the map is not the territory.” A map is simply an explanation of certain aspects of the territory. That’s exactly what a paradigm is. It is a theory, an explanation, or model of something else.”

— Stephen R. Covey

486. “Consult the wisdom of your heart as well as your mind.”

— Stephen R. Covey

487. “It comes from within.”

— Stephen R. Covey

488. “If we do not teach our children, societ will. And they-and we-will live with the results.”

— Stephen R. Covey

489. “Peace of counscious is greater than peace of mind. Peace of mind is more externally oriented. Peace of consciousness is when you know you have been honest in all your business dealings.”

— Stephen R. Covey

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

— Stephen R. Covey

491. “It is our willing permission, our consent to what happens to us, that hurts us far more than what happens to us in the first place.”

— Stephen R. Covey

492. “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.”

— Stephen R. Covey

493. “Urgency addiction is a self-destructive behavior that temporarily fills the void created by unmet needs. And instead of meeting these needs, the tools and approaches of time management often feed the addiction. They keep us focused on daily prioritization of the urgent.”

— Stephen R. Covey

494. “Actually I did not invent the seven habits, they are universal principles and most of what I wrote about is just common sense. I am embarrassed when people talk about the Covey Habits, and dislike the idea of being some sort of guru.”

— Stephen R. Covey

495. “Admission of ignorance is often the first step in our education. Thoreau taught, “How can we remember our ignorance, which our growth requires, when we are using our knowledge all the time?”

— Stephen R. Covey

496. “Our behavior is governed by principles. Living in harmony with them brings positive consequences; violating them brings negative consequences.”

— Stephen R. Covey

497. “It’s sometimes a painful process. It’s a change that has to be motivated by a higher purpose, by the willingness to subordinate what you think you want now for what you want later.”

— Stephen R. Covey

498. “The children of blame are cynicism and hopelessness.”

— Stephen R. Covey

499. “What difference would a clear vision of my principles, values, and ultimate objectives make in the way I spend my time?”

— Stephen R. Covey

500. “When I started teaching I realized that I had never had such a level of satisfaction and such a feeling of fulfillment and sense of contribution. Just like that. But, usually it’s more cumulative, slow, evolutionary and less revolutionary.”

— Stephen R. Covey