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

Stephen Covey

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Stephen Covey
Age: 79 †
Born: 1932
Born: October 24
Died: 2012
Died: July 16
Author
Businessperson
Professor
Writer
Salt Lake City
Utah
Stephen Richards Covey
Fact
Facts
Think
Thinking
World

More quotes by Stephen Covey

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Private Victory precedes Public Victory. Algebra comes before calculus.
Stephen Covey
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It's a fact that more people watch television and get their information that way than read books. I find new technology and new ways of communication very exciting and would like to do more in this field.
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Each of us guard a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside.
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But until a person can say deeply and honestly, I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday, that person cannot say, I choose otherwise.
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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.
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Over time, I have come to this simple definition of leadership: Leadership is getting results in a way that inspires trust.
Stephen Covey
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Role modeling is the most basic responsibility of parents. Parents are handing life's scripts to their children, scripts that in all likelihood will be acted out for the rest of the children's lives.
Stephen Covey
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To judge individuals before understanding them is a form of human rejection and feeds upon itself.
Stephen Covey
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The only person over whom you have direct and immediate control is yourself. The most important assets to develop, preserve and enhance, therefore, are your own capabilities. And no one can do it for you. You must cultivate the habit of leadership effectiveness for yourself - and doing so will be the single best investment you will ever make.
Stephen Covey
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Give no answer to contentious arguments or irresponsible accusations. Let such things fly out open windows until they spend themselves.
Stephen Covey
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It is futile to put personality ahead of character, to try to improve relationships with others before improving ourselves.
Stephen Covey
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Public behavior is merely private character writ large.
Stephen Covey
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When you have a challenge and the response is equal to the challenge, that's called 'success'. But once you have a new challenge, the old, once-successful response no longer works. That's why it is called a 'failure'.
Stephen Covey
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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 Covey
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Writing is another powerful way to sharpen the mental saw. Keeping a journal of our thoughts, experiences, insights, and learnings promotes mental clarity, exactness, and context.
Stephen Covey
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It's not that we ignore our weaknesses rather, we make our weaknesses irrelevant by working effectively with others so that we compensate for our weaknesses through their strengths and they compensate for their weaknesses through our strengths.
Stephen Covey
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There's no better way to inform and expand you mind on a regular basis than to get into the habit of reading good literature.
Stephen Covey
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Trust is a function of both character and competence. Of course you can't trust someone who lacks integrity, but if someone is honest but they can't perform, you're not going to trust them either. You won't trust them to get the job done.
Stephen Covey
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Be a light, not a judge, be a model not a critic. Little by little, your circle of influence will explode and you will avoid the emotional metastasizing cancers of complaining, criticizing, competing, comparing and cynicism, all which reflect victimization, all of which are the opposite of being proactive.
Stephen Covey
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Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It's the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge.
Stephen Covey