“When you treat your competitors with the courtesy and respect you would like, most will respond in kind, and the results is a stable, productive, profitable industry. On the other hand, an industry or market that is composed of vicious, unethical competitors will soon destroy itself. When you are asked how your products and services compare with those of you competitors, speak respectfully and politely about your rivals, but use the question to shift the discussion to your company and your products. Acknowledge others’ good points, and then move on. If you complain too much about the competition, prospective customers may wonder what they are missing and refuse to buy until they have compared your products and services with those of others.”
– Napoleon Hill

“Have you ever invaded principal to increase your standard of living, to get more golden eggs? The decreasing principal has decreasing power to produce interest or income. And the dwindling capital becomes smaller and smaller until it no longer supplies even basic needs.”
– Stephen R. Covey

If You Must Let Someone Down, Be Sure It Isn’t The Friend We all have short memories. We become preoccupied with our own interests and daily cares, and it’s easy to lose track of friends. There will always be times when you must choose between what you wish to do and what you must do. When you are faced with such decisions, make sure you always remember those true and loyal friends who were there when you needed them, and never, under any circumstances, abandon them.

When you let down a friend who helped you when you needed it most, you will not only adversely affect the friendship; you will seriously damage your own self-respect. When you fail a friend, regardless of how heavy your own burdens may be, you also fail yourself. If you absolutely cannot do what good friends would like, find another way to make it up to them.
– Napoleon Hill

When you can see only two alternatives – yours and the ‘wrong’ one – you can look for a synergistic third alternative. There’s almost always a third alternative, and if you work with a Win/Win philosophy and really seek to understand, you usually can find a solution that will be better for everyone concerned.
– Stephen R. Covey

“Is there any other form of freedom that comes at such a low cost?

The freedom to change a habit, to change your mind, to change your expectations.

It takes guts and humility to change your mind. Fortunately, you have the freedom and the courage to do so.”
– Seth Godin

“In recent years, great strides have been made in overcoming the traditional adversarial relationship between workers and bosses. At last we’re learning that when we focus on better serving our clients and customer, everybody wins. When you begin to focus on what’s good in your company instead of what you don’t like, you will be amazed how quickly you will have more responsibility, and soon you will be teaching your employees how to do your old job.”
– Napoleon Hill

There is nothing like money to make you attractive and appealing to others. But, of course, the kind of people who are attracted to you only because of what you can do for them may be acquaintances, not friends. You may have many acquaintances if you become wealthy, but whatever your station in life may be, you will never have true friends unless you are a friend to others. Be very selective in your choice of friends. Choose to associate with positive people who like you for the person you are, who encourage you to be yourself and to be the best you can be.
– Napoleon Hill

Management is a bottom line focus: How can I best accomplish certain things? Leadership deals with the top line: What are the things I want to accomplish? Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
– Stephen R. Covey

“True independence of character empowers us to act rather than be acted upon. It frees us from our dependence on circumstances and other people and is a worthy, liberating goals. But it is not the ultimate goal in effective living.”
– Stephen R. Covey

“Day after day, year after year, it’s the interactions we have at home that have the biggest impact on who we become.

Public school is an essential part of our culture. But the inputs and foundations that parents create are essential and they are truly difficult to outsource.

What would happen if you figured out how to spend two hours a day, every day, without electronics, with your kids? Looking them in the eye, being present, doing projects, setting standards, raising the bar, learning, seeing, hearing, connecting, challenging, questioning, being questioned…”
– Seth Godin