If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication.

— Stephen R. Covey

Stephen R. Covey Quotes

Rebellion is a knot of the heart, not of the mind.

— Stephen R. Covey

We share in the spirit embodied in the Alcoholics Anonymous prayer, “Lord, give me the courage to change the things which can and ought to be changed, the serenity to accept the things which cannot be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference.

— Stephen R. Covey

Principles are not values. A gang of thieves can share values, but they are in violation of the fundamental principles we’re talking about. Principles are the territory. Values are maps. When we value correct principles, we have truth – a knowledge of things as they are.

— Stephen R. Covey

In addition, as you openly, honestly share what you’re learning with others, you may be surprised to find that negative labels or perceptions others may have of you tend to disappear. Those you teach will see you as a changing, growing person, and will be more inclined to be helpful and supportive as you work, perhaps together, to integrate the Seven Habits into your lives.

— Stephen R. Covey

To relate effectively with a wife, a husband, children, friends, or working associates, we must learn to listen. And this requires emotional strength. Listening involves patience, openness, and the desire to understand – highly developed qualities of character. It’s so much easier to operate from a low emotional level and to give high-level advice.

— Stephen R. Covey

There are some people who interpret “proactive” to mean pushy, aggressive, or insensitive; but that isn’t the case at all. Proactive people aren’t pushy. They’re smart, they’re value driven, they read reality, and they know what’s needed.

— Stephen R. Covey

A few years ago, my wife Sandra and I were struggling with this kind of concern. One of our sons was having a very difficult time in school. He was doing poorly academically; he didn’t even know how to follow the instructions on the tests, let alone do well on them. Socially he was immature, often embarrassing those closest to him. Athletically, he was small, skinny, and uncoordinated – swinging his baseball bat, for example, almost before the ball was even pitched. Others would laugh at him.

— Stephen R. Covey

If I were emotionally dependent, my sense of worth and security would come from your opinion of me.

— Stephen R. Covey

It builds weakness in the person forced to acquiesce, stunting the development of independent reasoning, growth, and internal discipline. And finally, it builds weakness in the relationship. Fear replaces cooperation, and both people involved become more arbitrary and defensive.

— Stephen R. Covey

Your crises and problems would shrink to manageable proportions because you would be thinking ahead, working on the roots, doing the preventive things that keep situations from developing into crises in the first place. In time management jargon, this is called the Pareto Principle – 80 percent of the results flow out of 20 percent of the activities.

— Stephen R. Covey

Pareto Principle – 80 percent of the results flow out of 20 percent of the activities.

— Stephen R. Covey

Principles don’t die. They aren’t here one day and gone the next. They can’t be destroyed by fire, earthquake or theft. Principles are deep, fundamental truths, classic truths, generic common denominators. They are tightly interwoven threads running with exactness, consistency, beauty, and strength through the fabric of life.

— Stephen R. Covey

Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas of life.

— Stephen R. Covey

Keep in mind that when you’re working with your family, “slow” is “fast” and “fast” is.

— Stephen R. Covey

How can we remember our ignorance, which our growth requires, when we are using our knowledge all the time?” – Henry David Thoreau.

— Stephen R. Covey

This brings into focus one of the basic flaws of the Personality Ethic. To try to change outward attitudes and behaviors does very little good in the long run if we fail to examine the basic paradigms from which those attitudes and behaviors flow. This perception demonstration also shows how powerfully our paradigms affect the way we interact with other people.

— Stephen R. Covey

If two people have the same opinion, one is unnecessary. It’s not going to do me any good at all to communicate with someone else who sees only the old woman also. 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.

— Stephen R. Covey

One person’s mission is another person’s minutiae.

— Stephen R. Covey

Perhaps the highest way to bring balance to life is the family.

— Stephen R. Covey

Integrity in an interdependent reality is simply this: you treat everyone by the same set of principles.

— Stephen R. Covey
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