Quotes on Principle
I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Thomas Paine
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The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.
Ayn Rand
Courage combined with integrity is the foundation of character.
Brian Tracy
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Dwight Eisenhower
The men who succeed best in public life are those who take the risk of standing by their own convictions.
James Garfield
Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.
Colin Powell
One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.
Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi
While values drive behaviors, principles govern consequences.
Stephen Covey
In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.
Thomas Jefferson
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, and then stand firm.
Abraham Lincoln
Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.
Henry Fielding
If you can get along with everyone and everyone loves you, then you don't stand for much. A person who stands his ground for his principles and won't compromise his integrity is not loved by everyone.
Larry Winget
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Stress comes from knowing what is right and doing what is wrong.
Larry Winget
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The more your behavior in the moment is consistent with what you feel your ideal behavior should be, the more you like and respect yourself and the happier you are.
Brian Tracy
Once you have decided that you are going to live consistent with a value, your level of integrity determines whether or not you follow through on your commitment. The more you discipline yourself to live consistent with the very best you know, the greater is your level of personal integrity. And the higher your level of integrity, the happier and more powerful you will feel in everything you do.
Brian Tracy
Successful people are more concerned with what is right rather than who is right.
Brian Tracy
People can be unreliable and disloyal; possessions can lose their value; jobs that once stimulated you can become boring. But principles remain steady through it all.
Nido Qubein
The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the principles you live by, you will change your world.
Blaine Lee
Man must search for what is right and let happiness come on its own.
Johann Pestalozzi
It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.
Adlai Stevenson
Humility is the mother of all virtues: the humble in spirit progress and are blessed because they willingly submit to higher powers and try to live in harmony with natural laws and universal principles. Courage is the father of all virtues; we need great courage to lead our lives by correct principles and to have integrity in the moment of choice.
Stephen Covey
If you want to achieve your highest aspirations and overcome your greatest challenges, identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek. How we apply a principle will vary greatly and will be determined by our unique strengths, talents, and creativity, but, ultimately, success in any endeavor is always derived from acting in harmony with the principles to which the success is tied.
Stephen Covey
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It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law.
Cecil deMille
There are principles that govern human effectiveness - natural laws in the human dimension that are just as real, just as unchanging and unarguably "there" as laws such as gravity are in the physical dimension.
Stephen Covey
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The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values - carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.
Stephen Covey
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Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do, and what is the right thing to do.
Potter Stewart
Our behavior is governed by principles. Living in harmony with them brings positive consequences; violating them brings negative consequences.
Stephen Covey
Principles always have natural consequences attached to them. There are positive consequences when we live in harmony with the principles. There are negative consequences when we ignore them. But because these principles apply to everyone, whether or not they are aware, this limitation is universal. And the more we know of correct principles, the greater is our personal freedom to act wisely.
Stephen Covey
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I believe that a life of integrity is the most fundamental source of personal worth. I do not agree with the popular success literature that says that self-esteem is primarily a matter of mind set, of attitude - that you can psych yourself into peace of mind.
Stephen Covey
Peace of mind comes when your life is in harmony with true principles and values and in no other way.
This is the source.
I believe that correct principles are natural laws, and that God, the Creator and Father of us all, is the source of them, and also the source of our conscience. I believe that to the degree people live by this inspired conscience, they will grow to fulfill their natures; to the degree that they do not, they will not rise above the animal plane.
Stephen Covey
Principles are natural laws that are external to us and that ultimately control the consequences of our actions. Values are internal and subjective and represent that which we feel strongest about in guiding our behavior.
Stephen Covey
Everyone has values; even criminal gangs have values. Values govern people's behavior but principles govern the consequences of those behaviors.
Stephen Covey
This is the source.
Humility is the mother of all virtues. Humility says we are not in control, principles are in control, therefore we submit ourselves to principles. Pride says that we are in control, and since our values govern our behavior, we can simply do life our way.
Stephen Covey
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
John Quincy Adams
As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.
C.L. De Montesquieu
Our principles are the springs of our actions. Our actions, the springs of our happiness or misery. Too much care, therefore, cannot be taken in forming our principles.
Red Skelton
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