How many on their deathbeds wished they'd spent more time at the office - or watching TV? The answer is, No one.
Stephen CoveyRead
We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We can decide what we do, but we can't control the outcomes of those decisions.
This quote by Stephen Covey highlights the distinction between our ability to make choices and the inevitability of their consequences. While we have the freedom to act according to our will, the results of those actions are often beyond our control, reminding us to take responsibility for our choices and to be mindful of their potential impact.
Themes
FreedomChoicesConsequencesResponsibilityActions
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal responsibility.
More from Stephen Covey
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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.
Stephen CoveyRead
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It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.
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Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things...as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value.
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