Quotes from First Things First

“Consequences are governed by principles, and behavior is governed by values, therefore, value principles!”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“بعضنا يشعر بفقدان الاتجاه ، والبلبلة . هؤلاء لا يوجد لديهم تقدير حقيقي للأمور التي تعد الاهم في حياتهم . فهم ينتقلون من نشاط إلى آخر بتلقائية وعفوية ، وبطريقة ميكانيكية بحتة . وبين الحين والآخر يتساءل هؤلاء : هل هناك معنى لما نقوم به من عمل ؟
وبدلا من أن ننظر إلى الأسباب الحقيقية في عدم رؤيتنا للأهم فإنا نتحايل على ذلك بالمسكنات والحلول السريعة لنتجاهل المشكلة ، محصنين بالراحة المؤقتة اللتي تحققها تلك الحلول المؤقتة ، فنصبح مشغولين أكثر وأكثر .”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“شجرة الخيزران الصينية تزرع بعد تجهيز الأرض جيدا. وفي أثناء السنوات الأربع الأولى يكون كل النمو الذي تحققه هذه الشجرة في الجزء الموجود تحت الأرض.

الشيء الوحيد المرئي منها طوال تلك المدة كرة صغيرة تخرج منها نبتة صغيرة جدا. في السنة الخامسة تنمو هذه الشجرة ثمانين قدما دفعة واحدة.

هذا النظام ينطبق على القائد الذي تقوم قيادته على مبادئ الحق ويعرف نظرية شجرة الخيزران الصينية، فهذا النوع من القادة يعرفون قيمة العمل ويعرفون قيمة تجهيز الأرض وزرع البذور ووضع السماد والماء والعناية التامة، وكذلك قيمة عدم التعجل بالنتائج مبكرا.

هؤلاء يعلمون أن المحصول الممتاز سيأتي لاحقا. ياله من حصاد رائع.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“it is that a meaningful life is not a matter of speed or efficiency. It’s much more a matter of what you do and why you do it, than how fast you get it done.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“what we believe about ourselves and our purpose has a powerful impact on how we live, how we love, and what we learn.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“It’s not enough to dream. It’s not enough to try. It’s not enough to set goals or climb ladders. It’s not enough to value. The effort has to be based on practical realities that produce the result. Only then can we dream, set goals, and work to achieve them with confidence.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile. While we do control our choice of action, we cannot control the consequences of our choices.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“THE URGENCY ADDICTION Some of us get so used to the adrenaline rush of handling crises that we become dependent on it for a sense of excitement and energy. How does urgency feel? Stressful? Pressured? Tense? Exhausting? Sure. But let’s be honest. It’s also sometimes exhilarating. We feel useful. We feel successful. We feel validated. And we get good at it. Whenever there’s trouble, we ride into town, pull out our six shooter, do the varmint in, blow the smoke off the gun barrel, and ride into the sunset like a hero. It brings instant results and instant gratification. We get a temporary high from solving urgent and important crises. Then when the importance isn’t there, the urgency fix is so powerful we are drawn to do anything urgent, just to stay in motion. People expect us to be busy, overworked. It’s become a status symbol in our society—if we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re almost embarrassed to admit it. Busyness is where we get our security. It’s validating, popular, and pleasing. It’s also a good excuse for not dealing with the first things in our lives. “I’d love to spend quality time with you, but I have to work. There’s this deadline. It’s urgent. Of course you understand.” “I just don’t have time to exercise. I know it’s important, but there are so many pressing things right now. Maybe when things slow down a little.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“Best way to predict your future is to create it.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“It’s easy to say “no!” when there’s a deeper “yes!” burning inside.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“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, quote from First Things First

“Principles are the simplicity on the far side of complexity.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“Changing a planning tool or a method won’t create significant change in the results we’re getting in our lives—although the implied promise is that it will. It’s not a matter of controlling things more, better, or faster; it’s questioning the whole assumption of control.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“What you alone can contribute, no one else can contribute. Viktor Frankl said we don’t invent our mission; we detect it. It’s within us waiting to be realized.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“While we do control our choice of action, we cannot control the consequences of our choices.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“When we set and achieve goals that are in our Center of Focus, we maximize the use of our time and effort. Interestingly, we find that as we do this over time, our Circle of Influence automatically increases. We find positive ways to influence more people and circumstances.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“How Many People on Their Deathbed Wish They’d Spent More Time at the Office?”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“When we talk about time management, it seems ridiculous to worry about speed before direction, about saving minutes when we may be wasting years.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“إن الإحساس بالأمن القائم على وهم مقارنة الذات مع الغير، من منظور أنني أجمل من غيري، وأنا لدي مال أكثر، أو لدي وظيفة أفضل، أو أنني أعمل أكثر من غيري، هو إحساس زائفز كما أننا لا يضيع منا الأمن لمجرد أننا أقل وسامة، أو مالاً، او مكانة من شخص آخر. فهذا لا يبدو أمراً ذا أهمية. إن الإحساس بالأمن داخلنا يأتي من شعورنا بالكرامة الشخصية، والتوجه الصحيح نحو الشمال.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“The unexamined life is not worth living,’ observed Plato. But the number of people who come out of our leadership development programs saying ‘I haven’t thought that deeply in years!’ is astonishing. As human beings, we’re trying—sometimes with disastrous results—to run businesses, raise our children, teach our students, be involved in relationships without giving serious and careful consideration to the roots out of which the fruits in our lives are growing.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“more important than how fast you’re going, is where you’re headed.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“balance is captured in the words of the ancient Sufi teaching: “You think because you understand one you must understand two, because one and one makes two. But you must also understand and.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“There’s no way we can escape accountability. We do make a difference—one way or the other. We are responsible for the impact of our lives.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your personal life? What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your professional or work life?”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“Management works in the system;
Leadership works on the system;”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“IF you were to pause and think seriously about the “first things” in your life—the three or four things that matter most—what would they be?”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“Goals that are connected to our inner life have the power of passion and principle. They’re fueled by the fire within and based on “true north” principles that create quality-of-life results.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“the wisdom literature of thousands of years of history repeatedly validates the reality that the greatest fulfillment in improving ourselves comes in our empowerment to more effectively reach out and help others. Quality of life is inside-out.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“The power of vision is incredible! Research indicates that children with “future-focused role images” perform far better scholastically and are significantly more competent in handling the challenges of life.2 Teams and organizations with a strong sense of mission significantly outperform those without the strength of vision. According to Dutch sociologist Fred Polak, a primary factor influencing the success of civilizations is the “collective vision” people have of their future.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

“Personal leadership is cultivating the wisdom to recognize our need for renewal and to ensure that each week provides activities that are genuinely re-creational in nature.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from First Things First

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.