Top 500 Stephen R. Covey Quotes (2025 Update)
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201. “The way we see things is the source of the way we think or the way we act.”

— Stephen R. Covey

202. “True greatness will be achieved through the abundant mind that works selflessly – with mutual respect, for mutual benefit.”

— Stephen R. Covey

203. “Effective people are not problem-minded; they’re opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems.”

— Stephen R. Covey

204. “Spiritual Intelligence represents our drive for meaning and connection with the infinite.”

— Stephen R. Covey

205. “An abundance mentality springs from internal security, not from external rankings, comparisons, opinions, possessions, or associations.”

— Stephen R. Covey

206. “We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.”

— Stephen R. Covey

207. “If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.”

— Stephen R. Covey

208. “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.”

— Stephen R. Covey

209. “Highly effective people tend to be proactive. They decide to find a better job or to have better health, rather than of responding to whatever curves life throws at them.”

— Stephen R. Covey

210. “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They’re either speaking or preparing to speak. They’re filtering everything through their own paradigms, reading their autobiography into other people’s lives.”

— Stephen R. Covey

211. “Always surround yourself with people who are even more talented and competent than you.”

— Stephen R. Covey

212. “It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy – very busy – without being very effective.”

— Stephen R. Covey

213. “Wisdom is your perspective on life, your sense of balance, your understanding of how the various parts and principles apply and relate to each other.”

— Stephen R. Covey

214. “Don’t get buried in the thick of thin things.”

— Stephen R. Covey

215. “Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions.”

— Stephen R. Covey

216. “This is the single most powerful investment we can ever make in life – investment in ourselves, in the only instrument we have with which to deal with life and to contribute.”

— Stephen R. Covey

217. “What does it matter how much we do if what we’re doing isn’t what matters most?”

— Stephen R. Covey

218. “The first job of a leader-at work or at home-is to inspire trust. It’s to bring out the best in people by entrusting them with meaningful stewardships, and to create an environment in which high-trust interaction inspires creativity and possibility.”

— Stephen R. Covey

219. “Listen, involve, synergize at work. Then you will bury the old and create an entirely new winning culture which will unleash people’s talents and create complementary teams where strengths are made productive and weakness are made irrelevant through the strengths of others.”

— Stephen R. Covey

220. “Your economic security does not lie in your job; it lies in your own power to produce – to think, to learn, to create, to adapt. That’s true financial independence. It’s not having wealth; it’s having the power to produce wealth.”

— Stephen R. Covey

221. “I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a ‘transformer’ in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader.”

— Stephen R. Covey

222. “A life of integrity is the most fundamental source of personal worth.”

— Stephen R. Covey

223. “In order to have influence, you have to be influenced.”

— Stephen R. Covey

224. “Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people.”

— Stephen R. Covey

225. “Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.”

— Stephen R. Covey

226. “Priority is a function of context.”

— Stephen R. Covey

227. “Instead, I have an abundance mentality: When people are genuinely happy at the successes of others, the pie gets larger.”

— Stephen R. Covey

228. “By centering our lives on timeless, unchanging principles, we create a fundamental paradigm of effective living. It is the center that puts all other centers in perspective.”

— Stephen R. Covey

229. “You have two ears and one mouth. Use them accordingly.”

— Stephen R. Covey

230. “Belief is another word for paradigm. It’s a synonymous. Your belief of the way things are. Values are the way things should be, it’s a paradigm of the way things should be. Beliefs are the paradigms of the way things are.”

— Stephen R. Covey

231. “I win the private victory when I have made my mind up and commit to live by correct principles and to serve worthy purposes.”

— Stephen R. Covey

232. “The key to motivation is motive. It’s the why. It’s the deeper yes! burning inside that makes it easier to say no to the less important.”

— Stephen R. Covey

233. “There is so much we can do to render service, to make a difference in the world – no matter how large or small our circle of influence.”

— Stephen R. Covey

234. “The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don’t mean your objective or intention-something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead.”

— Stephen R. Covey

235. “Our character is basically a composite of our habits.”

— Stephen R. Covey

236. “When you listen with empathy to another person, you give that person psychological air.”

— Stephen R. Covey

237. “If you want the secondary greatness of recognized talent, focus first on primary greatness of character.”

— Stephen R. Covey

238. “How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and to do what really matters most.”

— Stephen R. Covey

239. “Vital to quality of life is the ability to work together, learn from each other, and help each other grow.”

— Stephen R. Covey

240. “The greatest thing you can do for your children is love your spouse.”

— Stephen R. Covey

241. “When we pick up one end of the stick, we pick up the other.”

— Stephen R. Covey

242. “The more deeply you understand other people, the more you will appreciate them, the more reverent you will feel about them. To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground.”

— Stephen R. Covey

243. “Being humble does not mean being weak, reticent, or self-effacing. It means recognizing principle and putting it ahead of self. It means standing firmly for principle, even in the fact of opposition.”

— Stephen R. Covey

244. “The challenge of work-life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles faced by modern man.”

— Stephen R. Covey

245. “We accomplish all that we do through delegation – either to time or to other people.”

— Stephen R. Covey

246. “Trust is the glue that holds everything together. It creates the environment in which all of the other elements win-win stewardship agreements, self-directing individuals and teams, aligned structures and systems, and accountability can flourish.”

— Stephen R. Covey

247. “Love is a verb. Love – the feeling – is the fruit of love the verb or our loving actions. So love her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her.”

— Stephen R. Covey

248. “Anything less then a conscious commitment to the important is an unconscious commitment to the unimportant.”

— Stephen R. Covey

249. “There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase ‘to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy.’ The need to leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, personal congruence, and contribution.”

— Stephen R. Covey

250. “We’re often so busy cutting through the undergrowth we don’t even realise we’re in the wrong jungle.”

— Stephen R. Covey