First Things First Quotes

• The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

  Stephen Covey

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Life Changing

  Stephen R. Covey (2016). “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Interactive Edition”, p.198, Mango Media Inc.

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• Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.

  Stephen Covey

  Inspirational, Priorities In Life, Important

  Stephen R. Covey (2012). “The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey”, p.25, Simon and Schuster

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• Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.

  Stephen Covey

  Mean, Priorities, Important

  Stephen R. Covey (2013). “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness”, p.152, Simon and Schuster

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• Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things.

  C. S. Lewis

  Firsts, Put First Things First, Thrown

  "The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 - 1963".

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• The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

  Stephen Covey

  Inspirational, Basketball, Perseverance

  Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill (1995). “First Things First”, p.75, Simon and Schuster

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• Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Inspirational, Motivational, Success

  Attributed to Goethe by Johannes Falk in "Goethe aus näherm persönlichen Umgange dargestellt", 1832.

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• Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

  Stephen Covey

  Love, Inspirational, Relationship

  Stephen R. Covey (2013). “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change”, p.267, Simon and Schuster

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• Our struggle to put first things first can be characterized by the contrast between two powerful tools that direct us: the clock and the compass. The clock represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals, activities - what we do with, and how we manage our time. The compass represents our vision, values, principles, mission, conscience, direction - what we feel is important and how we lead our lives. In an effort to close the gap between the clock and the compass in our lives, many of us turn to the field of "time management."

  Stephen Covey

  Powerful, Struggle, Commitment

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• Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.

  H. L. Hunt

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

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• First things first; take care of what can be done now before worrying too long over what might never be.

  Robert Jordan

  Long, Worry, Done

  Robert Jordan (2010). “Lord of Chaos: Book Six of 'The Wheel of Time'”, p.277, Macmillan

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• Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

  Peter Drucker

  Inspirational, Change, Leadership

  "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey, (p. 101), 1989.

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• If there is any one secret of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time.

  Peter Drucker

  Effectiveness, Focus, Secret

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• The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Inspirational Life, Priorities, Firsts

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• 

  Begin with the end in mind.

  Stephen Covey

  Inspirational, Success, Determination

  Stephen R. Covey (2000). “Vision: Defining Your Destiny in Life”, Franklincovey

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• There are three constants in life... change, choice and principles.

  Stephen Covey

  Life, Change, Bad Ass

  Stephen R. Covey (2012). “The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey”, p.20, Simon and Schuster

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• When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.

  C. S. Lewis

  Firsts, Put First Things First

  C. S. Lewis (2003). “A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis”, p.141, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Always begin with the end in mind.

  Ellen Muth

  Goal, Mind, Personal Vision

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• God wants us to prosper. Our need, however, is to evaluate things as they should be evaluated - to esteem earthly things lightly - to put first things first.

  Kenneth E. Hagin

  Needs, Want, Firsts

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• You can’t get second things by putting them first. You get second things only by putting first things first.

  C. S. Lewis

  Firsts, Put First Things First

  C. S. Lewis (2014). “God in the Dock”, p.310, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

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• How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?

  William Golding

  Firsts, Put First Things First, Ifs

  William Golding (1954). “Lord of the Flies”, p.57, Penguin

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• Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

  Stephen Covey

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Leadership

  Stephen R. Covey (2016). “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change Interactive Edition”, p.120, Mango Media Inc.

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• A proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing what things are more important than other things; it means putting first things first.

  Wendell Berry

  Education, Mean, Order

  Wendell Berry (2001). “In the Presence of Fear: Three Essays for a Changed World”

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• Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

  Stephen Covey

  Life, Leadership, Insperational

  Stephen R. Covey (2012). “The Wisdom and Teachings of Stephen R. Covey”, p.56, Simon and Schuster

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• Management works in the system; leadership works on the system.

  Stephen Covey

  Leadership, Business, Management

  Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill (1995). “First Things First”, p.27, Simon and Schuster

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• Do first things first, and second things not at all.

  Peter Drucker

  Inspirational, Motivational, Second Chance

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