How many on their deathbeds wished they'd spent more time at the office - or watching TV? The answer is, No one.
Stephen CoveyRead
My behavior is a product of my own conscious choices based on principles, rather than a product of my conditions, based on feelings.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our actions stem from deliberate choices informed by principles instead of being reactive to our circumstances or emotions.
In this quote, Stephen Covey emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and conscious decision-making. He asserts that true behavior is not merely a result of external conditions or fleeting feelings, but rather stems from a deep understanding of one's principles and values, urging individuals to take charge of their actions and reactions in life.
Themes
ChoicesPrinciplesBehaviorResponsibilityConsciousness
In practice
Example use cases
During a leadership workshop to inspire self-awareness among participants.
More from Stephen Covey
All quotes βIf you want to have a more pleasant, cooperative teenager, be a more understanding, empathic, consistent, loving parent. If you want to have more freedom, more latitude in your job, be a more responsible, a more helpful, a more contributing employee.
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Listen with your eyes for feelings.
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If we live out of our memory, we're tied to the past and to that which is finite. When we live out of our imagination, _x000D_ we're tied to that which is infinite.
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Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people.
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Keep in mind that you are always saying "no" to something. If it isn't to the apparent and urgent things in your life, it is probably to the most fundamental, highly important things.
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The wise man does not grow old, but ripens.
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Do you know this Sanskrit Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth.
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We lift ourselves by our thought, we climb upon our vision of ourselves. If you want to enlarge your life, you must first enlarge your thought of it and of yourself. Hold the ideal of yourself as you long to be, always, everywhere - your ideal of what you long to attain - the ideal of health, efficiency, success.
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Nimble thought can jump both sea and land.
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If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
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