I first met Stephen Covey in 2001, when he asked for a meeting to talk about ideas. After a warm greeting -- his enveloping handshake feeling like the comfortable leather of a softball glove that you've worn a thousand times -- we settled into a conversation that lasted two hours. Stephen began by asking questions, lots of questions. Here sat a master teacher, one of the most influential thinkers of the day, and he wanted to learn from someone twenty-five years his junior.
我第一次遇见史蒂芬•柯维是在2001年，他想见面和我谈谈他的想法。与他握手的感觉很温暖，仿佛被一副你已戴得熨帖无比的棒球手套包裹，之后我们长谈了两小时。史蒂芬先提问题，他问了许多问题。这位大师、当代最有影响力的思想家之一坐在那里，而他却希望向一个比他年轻25岁的人学习。
As the conversation opened an opportunity for me to exercise my own curiosity, I began, "How did you come up with the ideas in The 7 Habits?"
会谈中，我趁机问了个自己好奇的问题：“你是如何构思出《高效能人士的七个习惯》（The 7 Habits）这本书的？”
"I didn't," he responded.
他答道：“不是我想出来的。”
"What do you mean?" I asked. "You wrote the book."
我问：“那你的意思是？这本书可是你写的。”
"Yes, I wrote the book, but the principles were known long before me." He continued, "They are more like natural laws. All I did was put them together, to synthesize them for people."
“没错，书是我写的，但这些规律远在我写之前就有人知道，”他继续说道。“它们更像是自然法则。我所做的工作就是把它们收集起来，总结给读者看。”
That's when I began to understand why this work has had such an impact. Covey had spent more than three decades studying, practicing, teaching, and refining what he ultimately distilled into these pages. He did not seek credit for the principles; he sought to teach the principles, to make them accessible. He saw creating the 7 Habits not primarily as a means to his own success, but as an act of service.
从那时起，我开始理解为什么这本著作产生了如此巨大的影响力。柯维花了超过30年的时间开展研究、实践、教学、提炼观点，最终浓缩成了这本书。他并不想借用这些法则追名逐利，而是希望传授这些法则，让它们为人所理解。在他看来，提出“七个习惯”并不是为了自身的成功，而是一项服务他人的行为。
When Bob Whitman, chief executive of FranklinCovey, called to ask if I would consider writing a foreword for the 25th anniversary edition of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I responded first by rereading the entire book; I'd read it shortly after its initial publication in 1989, and it was a gift to reengage with its message. I also wanted to recalibrate: what makes it an enduring classic? I see four factors that contributed to its rarefied stature:
所以，当咨询公司FranklinCovey的董事长鲍勃•惠特曼打电话问我能否为《高效能人士的七个习惯》的25周年版本作序时，我首先再次通读了全书。这本书1989年首次发行后不久，我曾有幸拜读此书，而如今重温其中的内容对我而言不啻于一种恩赐。我还想再一次确定：是什么让它成为了经久不衰的经典？我认为有四个因素造就了本书罕见的高度：
1. Covey created a "user interface" organized into a coherent conceptual framework, made highly accessible by Covey's strong writing;
1、柯维为他统一的概念体系构建了一个“用户界面”，通过柯维强大的写作能力，这些概念能够轻易被读者理解。
2. Covey focused on timeless principles, not on mere techniques or momentary fads;
2、柯维专注于永恒的法则，而不是单纯的技巧或转瞬即逝的潮流。
3. Covey wrote primarily about building character, not about "achieving success" -- and thereby helped people become not just more effective individuals, but better leaders;
3、柯维写的主要是塑造品格，而不是“赢得成功”——因此能够让读者不仅成为更高效的个体，还能成为更好的领导者。
4. Covey himself was a Level 5 teacher, humble about his own shortcomings, yet determined to share widely what he'd learned.
4、柯维本身就是一名第五级领导人，谦逊地看待自己的不足，同时决心将自身所学广泛地传播。
Stephen Covey was a master synthesizer. I think of what he did for personal effectiveness as analogous to what the graphical user interface did for personal computers. Prior to Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), few people could harness computers to their daily lives; there was no easily accessible user interface -- there were no mouse pointers, friendly icons, or overlapping windows on a screen, let alone a touch screen. But with the Macintosh and then Windows, the mass of people could finally tap the power of the microchip behind the screen. Similarly, there had been hundreds of years of accumulated wisdom about personal effectiveness, from Benjamin Franklin to Peter Drucker, but it was never assembled into one coherent, user-friendly framework. Covey created a standard operating system -- the "Windows" -- for personal effectiveness, and he made it easy to use. He proved to be a very fine writer, a master of short stories and conceptual wordplay. I will never forget the story in Chapter 1 about the man on the subway who could not control his screaming kids (and the point it makes), nor will I ever forget the lighthouse or the wrong jungle or the analogy of the golden eggs. Some of his conceptual wrapping paper worked exceptionally well, being both descriptive of a concept, and at the same time prescriptive in its application. "Win/Win or No Deal." "Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood." "Begin with the End in Mind." "Put First Things First." He made the ideas even more accessible by using personal life-struggles and stories -- raising children, building a marriage, dealing with friends -- to teach the habits and build muscle fiber for living them.
史蒂芬•柯维是一个大师级的组织者。我认为，他对个人效能领域的意义类似于图形用户界面对个人电脑的意义。在苹果（Apple）和微软（Microsoft）之前，几乎没有人能在日常生活中使用电脑。那时的电脑没有易于操作的用户界面——没有鼠标、没有友好的图标、没有屏幕上的窗口，更不用说触摸屏了。但是通过Macintosh和之后的Windows，大多数人们终于可以利用屏幕后面微芯片的力量。与此类似，从本杰明•富兰克林到彼得•德鲁克，个人效能领域积累了数百年来的真知灼见。但它们从未被整合成一个统一的、易于理解的体系。柯维在个人效能领域创造了一个类似Windows的标准操作系统，让它变得易于使用。事实证明，他是一位非常优秀的作家，善于讲短故事、巧妙地利用概念上的文字双关。我不会忘记第1章中那个地铁里的男人管不住尖叫的孩子的故事（和它背后的道理），也忘不了灯塔、错误的丛林，还有金蛋的类比。他的一些概念上的包装起到了极好的效果，不仅描述了他的概念，同时还这些概念的应用具有很好的指导作用。“双赢思维。”“知彼解己。”“以终为始。”“要事第一。”他通过人们的奋斗故事——抚养孩子、建立婚姻、与朋友做生意——来讲授习惯、告诉人们如何培养这些习惯，让这些理念更容易被人理解。
The ideas embedded in the framework are timeless. They are principles. This is why they work, and why they speak to people in all age groups around the globe. In a world of change, disruption, chaos, and relentless uncertainty, people crave an anchor point, a set of constructs to give them guidance in the face of turbulence. Covey believed that timeless principles do indeed exist, and that the search for them is not folly, but wisdom. He rejected the view of those who shout from the rooftops, "There is nothing sacred, nothing enduring, nothing durable to build upon in this ever-changing landscape! Everything is new! Nothing from the past applies!"
他体系内的理念不会受到时间的影响。它们是法则。这就是这些理念能够发挥作用、能够为何要球不同年龄的人们所接受的原因。在一个不断改变、分裂、混乱、无情而充满变数的世界，人们渴望能有一个定位点、一系列构念，在他们面对动荡时给予他们指导。柯维相信永恒不变的法则确实存在，寻找它们并不是什么愚蠢的事，而是英明的做法。他反对那些从屋顶上传来的观点：“没有什么是神圣的，没有什么永垂不朽。在这个不断变化的世界，构建的一切都无法持久！一切都是新的！过去的一切都无法用于现在！”
My own research quest has focused on the question, "What makes a great company tick -- why do some companies make the leap from good to great (while others don't), why do some become built to last (while others fall), and why do some thrive in chaos?" One of our key findings is the idea of "Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress"; no enterprise can become or remain truly great without a core set of principles to preserve, to build upon, to serve as an anchor, to provide guidance in the face of an ever-changing world. At the same time, no company can remain great without stimulating progress -- change, renewal, improvement, and the pursuit of BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). When you blend these two together -- Preserve the Core AND Stimulate Progress -- you get a magical dialectic that keeps a company or organization vibrant over time. Covey found a similar pattern in personal effectiveness: first build upon a strong core of principles that are not open for continuous change; at the same time, be relentless in the quest for improvement and continuous self-renewal. This dialectic enables an individual to retain a rock-solid foundation and attain sustained growth for a lifetime.
我自身的研究关注于这样一个问题：“是什么让一家伟大的公司长盛不衰——为什么一些公司能从‘优秀’蜕变为‘伟大’（而其他公司不行），为什么一些公司基业长青（而其他公司逐渐倒闭），为什么一些公司在混乱中茁壮成长？”我们的重要发现之一是“保持核心/促进发展”的理念。面对不断变化的世界，如果没有保持一套核心的法则用以作为建设基础、担当定海神针、提供正确指引，公司就不可能实现蜕变，也不可能保持真正的伟大。与此同时，如果不促进发展——改变、更新、完善、无畏地追求困难的远大目标，也没有哪家公司可以保持繁荣。当你把“保持核心和促进发展”这两点结合起来，你就会发现让一个公司或组织生生不息的神奇的辩证关系。柯维在个人效能领域发现了类似的情况：首先建立一套强大到不受持续剧变所影响的核心法则；与此同时，不断地追求完善和更新。这个辩证关系让个人能够保有坚如磐石的基础，同时得以在人生中不断进步。
But I think the most important aspect of The 7 Habits -- what makes it not just practical, but profound -- is its emphasis on building character rather than "attaining success." There is no effectiveness without discipline, and there is no discipline without character. While writing this foreword, I'm in the midst of finishing a two-year journey as the class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point. I've come to a personal belief that a key ingredient in the West Point recipe is the idea that great leadership begins first with character -- that leadership is primarily a function of who you are, for this is the foundation for everything you do. How do you build leaders? You first build character. And that is why I see the 7 Habits as not just about personal effectiveness, but about leadership development.
不过我认为，让《高效能人士的七个习惯》这本书不仅实用、而且意义深远的最重要的一点，是它对塑造品格、而不是“赢得成功”的强调。没有法则，就没有效能；而没有品格，就没有法则。我在撰写这篇前言时正要结束在美国西点军校（United States Military Academy at West Point）领导力研究1951班的执教工作。我个人认为，西点军校的核心理念之一就是，伟大的领导能力首先是一个品格问题——领导能力主要是一个函数：你是谁，这是你做一切事情的基础。如何打造领导者？首先要塑造品格。因此我认为“七个习惯”不仅关乎个人效能，还关乎领导力的培养。
As I reflect upon some of the exceptional leaders I've studied in my research, I'm struck by how Covey's principles are manifested in many of their stories. Let me focus on one of my favorite cases, Bill Gates. It's become fashionable in recent years to attribute the outsize success of someone like Bill Gates to luck, to being in the right place at the right time. But if you think about it, this argument falls apart. When Popular Electronics put the Altair computer on its cover, announcing the advent of the first-ever personal computer, Bill Gates teamed up with Paul Allen to launch a software company and write the BASIC programming language for the Altair. Yes, Gates was at just the right moment with programming skills, but so were other people -- students in computer science and electrical engineering at schools like CalTech, MIT, and Stanford; seasoned engineers at technology companies like IBM (IBM), Xerox (XRX), and HP (HPQ); and scientists in government research laboratories. Thousands of people could've done what Bill Gates did at that moment, but they didn't. Gates acted upon the moment. He dropped out of Harvard, moved to Albuquerque (where the Altair was based), and wrote computer code day and night. It was not the luck of being at the right moment in history that separated Bill Gates, but his proactive response to being at the right moment (Habit 1: Be Proactive).
我回顾调查中研究的一些特殊的领导者时，惊讶地发现柯维的法则在许多人的故事中都得到了验证。我们不妨来关注一下我最喜欢的一个案例：比尔•盖茨。近年来，人们很流行把比尔•盖茨这类人所取得的巨大成功归因为运气好，认为他们在正确的时间出现在了正确的地点。不过如果仔细想一想，这样的论述就会土崩瓦解。当年，《大众电子》（Popular Electronics）以“牛郎星”作为封面，宣布第一台个人电脑诞生的时候，比尔•盖茨与保罗•阿伦合伙成立了一家软件公司，并为“牛郎星”编写了BASIC语言。是的，盖茨正好在那时掌握了编程，但是其他人也会——那些在加州理工学院（CalTech）、麻省理工学院（MIT）和斯坦福大学（Stanford）的计算机科学和电子工程的学生们；那些在IBM、施乐（Xerox）和惠普（HP）工作的老练的工程师们；还有政府研究室里的科学家们。成千上万的人在那时都可以做比尔•盖茨做的事情，但是他们没有做。盖茨当即就采取了行动。他从哈佛（Harvard）退学，搬到了阿尔伯克基（“牛郎星”的所在地），开始没日没夜地编写电脑代码。在那个历史时刻，把比尔•盖茨与其他人区分开的并不是运气，而是他在恰当时机采取的积极主动的行动（习惯1：积极主动）。
As Microsoft grew into a successful company, Gates expanded his objectives, guided by a very big idea: a computer on every desk. Later, Gates and his wife created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with huge goals, such as eradicating malaria from the face of the Earth. As he put it in his 2007 Harvard commencement speech, "For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have" (Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind).
微软成为一家成功的公司后，在他的宏大理念：“人人桌上都有电脑”的指引下，盖茨扩大了他的目标。随后，盖茨和他的妻子创立了盖茨夫妇基金会（Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation）。他们有着远大的目标，比如在地球上根除疟疾。正如他在2007年哈佛的毕业典礼上所言：“梅琳达（盖茨的妻子——译注）和我面临着共同的问题：我们如何利用手上的资源，为最多的人们做出最大的贡献。”（习惯2：以终为始）。
True discipline means channeling our best hours into first-order objectives, and that means being a nonconformist in the best sense. "Everyone" might say finishing Harvard should be the most important task for a young Bill Gates. Instead, he aligned his efforts with his mission, despite any disapproving glances from well-meaning people. As he built Microsoft, he poured his energies into two overriding objectives: getting the best people and executing on a few big software bets; everything else was secondary. When Gates first met Warren Buffett at a dinner, the host asked all those at the table what they saw as the single most important factor in their journey through life. As Alice Schroeder related in her book The Snowball, both Gates and Buffett gave the same one-word answer: "Focus." (Habit 3: Put First Things First).
真正的法则意味着要用我们最好的时间来做最重要的事情，也意味着不要在“最好”这个概念上墨守成规。“每个人”可能都会说完成哈佛的学业对年轻的比尔•盖茨来说是最重要的事。然而，他为自己的使命倾注了全部努力，不在乎好心人投来的反对目光。建立微软后，他将全部经历投入了两件首要的事情：招揽最好的人才，努力开发几款大型软件；除此之外的其他任何事情都是次要的。盖茨第一次在晚餐遇见沃伦•巴菲特时，主人邀请所有在座者给出自己心目中的人生中最重要的品质。如爱丽丝•施罗德在她的《滚雪球》（The Snowball）中所说，盖茨和巴菲特都给出了同一个词作为答案：“专注。”（习惯3：要事第一）。
Gates's relationship to the fourth habit (Habit 4: Think Win/Win) is a bit more complicated. At first glance, Gates would appear to be a win/lose character, a fierce combatant who so feared how easily a company's flanks could be turned that he wrote a "nightmare" memo laying out scenarios of how Microsoft could lose. In the race for industry standards, there would be only a small set of big winners, and a lot of losers, and Gates had no intention of Microsoft's being anything less than one of the big winners. But a closer look reveals that he was masterful at assembling complementary forces into a coalition. To achieve his big dream, Gates understood that Microsoft would need to complement its strengths with the strengths of others: Intel (INTC) with its microprocessors, and personal computer manufacturers such as IBM and Dell (DELL). He also shared equity, so that when Microsoft won, Microsoft people would win as well. And he displayed a remarkable ability to complement his personal strengths with the strengths of others, especially his longtime business alter ego, Steve Ballmer; Gates and Ballmer accomplished much more by working together than they ever could alone; 1 + 1 is much larger than 2. (Habit 6: Synergize).
盖茨与第四个习惯（习惯4：双赢思维）的关系有一些复杂。乍看之下，盖茨似乎是想赢怕输的性格，一个凶猛的斗士，无比害怕公司垮掉，以至于还撰写了一份“梦魇”备忘录记下微软垮掉的情形。行业标准的竞争中只能有极少部分大赢家和大量输家，而盖茨从来没想过让微软脱离赢家的行列。不过更仔细地观察之后，你会发现他很善于让互补的各派结成同盟。为了达成雄心壮志，盖茨明白微软需要与其他巨头优势互补：善于制造微处理器的英特尔（Intel），还有个人电脑制造商IBM和戴尔（Dell）。他还共享了股权，如此一来，微软取得成功时，微软的员工同样取得了成功。他还展现了将自己个人的优势与其他人的优势互补的非凡能力，尤其是与他的长期商业伙伴史蒂夫•鲍尔默。盖茨和鲍尔默通过合作所作出的贡献远大于他们各自单独能做出的贡献。1+1远大于2。（习惯6：统合综效。）
As Gates moved to social impact with the Foundation, he did not step forth saying, "I've been successful in business, so I already know how to achieve social impact." Quite the opposite; he brought a relentless curiosity, a quest to gain understanding. He pushed with questions, trying to get a handle on the science and methods needed to solve some of the most intractable problems, ending one exchange with a friend with a comment along the lines of "I need to learn more about phosphates." (Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.) And, finally, I'm struck by how Gates renewed. Even during the most intense years building Microsoft, he periodically set aside an entire week to unplug for reading and reflection, a Think Week. He also developed a penchant for reading biographies; at one point he told Brent Schlender of Fortune, "It's amazing how some people develop during their lives" -- a lesson Gates looks to have taken as a mantra for his own life (Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.)
盖茨转向慈善基金追求社会影响后，他并未走向前台说：“我已经在商界取得了成功，所以我已经知道如何获得社会影响了。”完全相反，他带来了强烈的好奇心，不断努力着增长知识。他一直提问，试着掌握知识和方法，去解决一些最棘手的问题，用一句“我需要了解更多关于磷酸盐的知识”结束了与他朋友的交谈。（习惯5：知彼解己。）最后，我还惊讶于盖茨自我恢复的方式。即便是在创立微软的最紧张的那几年，他也会定期抽出一整周时间用于阅读和反思，这是个“思考周”。他还培养了阅读人物传记的爱好。有一次他对《财富》的布伦特•施伦德说：“一些人的人生成长轨迹令人惊奇”——盖茨学到的这一堂课已经成为了他自己的人生写照（习惯7：不断更新。）
Gates is a fabulous case, but I could have used others. I could have highlighted Wendy Kopp, who founded Teach For America with the idea to inspire hundreds of thousands of college graduates to serve at least two years teaching children in our most underserved schools, with the ultimate aim to create an indomitable social force to radically improve K-12 education (Be Proactive; Begin with the End in Mind). Or I could have used Steve Jobs living in a house without furniture, too busy creating insanely great products to get around to seemingly unimportant activities like buying a kitchen table or a sofa (Put First Things First). Or Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines (LUV), who created a win/win culture between management and labor, with everyone uniting together after 9/11 to keep its thirty years of consecutive profitability intact while also keeping intact every single job (Think Win/Win). Or even Winston Churchill, who took naps throughout the Second World War, thereby giving himself "two mornings" every day (Sharpen the Saw).
盖茨是一个很好的案例，不过我同样也可以用其他人的经历来举例子。比如温蒂•柯普。她是“为美国而教”（Teach For America）的创立者，希望借此鼓励成千上万的大学毕业生去美国服务水平最低下的学校，为孩子们担任至少两年的教师。它的最终目的是创造一股顽强的社会力量，从根本上促进美国的K-12教育（积极主动、以终为始）。我也可以举例说史蒂夫•乔布斯住在一间没有家具的房子里，忙于创造疯狂而伟大的产品，没空考虑购买餐桌或沙发这类似乎无关紧要的事情（要事第一）。或者举西南航空公司（Southwest Airlines）赫伯•凯勒尔的例子，他创造了管理层和员工的双赢文化。911事件后，所有人都联合起来，保证公司连续三十年实现了盈利，每一个职位都得以保全（双赢思维）。甚至是温斯顿•丘吉尔，他在第二次世界大战期间常常打盹，这让他每天有了“两个早晨”（不断更新）。
I do not mean to imply that the 7 Habits map one-for-one to building a great company. The principles in Good to Great and Built to Last, for example, and the principles in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People are complementary, but distinct. Covey set out to write a book, not on building great organizations, but on achieving great personal effectiveness. Still, organizations are composed of people, and the more effective those people, the stronger the organization. And I do suspect that those who live the 7 Habits perhaps have a higher likelihood of becoming Level 5 leaders, those rare transformational figures I wrote so much about in Good to Great. Level 5 leaders display a paradoxical combination of personal humility and professional will, channeling their energy, drive, creativity, and discipline into something larger and more enduring than themselves. They're ambitious, to be sure, but for a purpose beyond themselves, be it building a great company, changing the world, or achieving some great object that's ultimately not about them. One of the most important variables in whether an enterprise remains great lies in a simple question: what is the truth about the inner motivations, character, and ambition of those who hold power? Their true, internal motivations will absolutely show up in their decisions and actions -- if not immediately, then over time, and certainly under duress -- no matter what they say or how they pose. And thus, we return full circle to a central tenet of Covey's framework: build inner character first -- private victory before public victory.
我不是说这七个习惯能与建立伟大的公司一一对应。比如，《从优秀到卓越》（Good to Great）和《基业长青》（Built to Last）与《高效能人士的七个习惯》在内容上有互补，但它们之间也存在区别。柯维着手撰写这本书并不是立足于建立伟大的公司，而是立足于达成个人的高效能。尽管如此，组织也是由个人组成。这些人效率越高，组织也就越强大。我确实怀疑这些拥有七个习惯的人是否有可能成为第五级领导者。那些完成了这一转变的罕见人物，我已经在《从优秀到卓越》中着墨颇多。第五级领导者兼备谦逊的个性和强烈的职业意志。他们将精力、动力、创造力和纪律性统统投入于比自身更伟大、更恒久的事业中。诚然，他们有野心，但不论是建立一个伟大的公司，改变这个世界，还是达成一些伟大的最终却与他们无关的目标，他们的目标已经超越了个人的范畴。一家企业是否依旧伟大，最重要的因素之一是一个简单的问题：掌权者的内在动机、品格和野心究竟如何。无论他们怎么说，怎么伪装，他们真正的内在动机早晚一定会在他们的决策和行动中得以体现。就算不会立刻暴露出来，假以时日也一定会。因此，我们重新来看柯维的体系的核心信条：先塑造内在品格——先取得个人的胜利，再取得公众的胜利。
And that brings me to Stephen Covey himself as a Level 5 teacher. Throughout his rather miraculous career, he displayed a disarming humility about his impact and influence, combined with an indomitable will to help people grasp the ideas. He genuinely believed the world would be a better place if people lived the 7 Habits, and that belief shines through these pages. As a Level 5 teacher, Stephen Covey did his human best to live what he taught. He said that he personally struggled most with Habit 5 ("Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood"). There is a great irony in this, as he first went on a multi-decade intellectual journey to gain understanding, before he wrote the book. He was first and foremost a learner who became a teacher, then a teacher who learned to write, and in so doing made his teachings enduring. In Habit 2, Stephen challenges us to envision our own funeral, and consider, "What would you like each of the speakers to say about you and your life? ... What character would you like them to have seen in you? What contributions, what achievements would you want them to remember?" I suspect he would be very pleased with how it turned out for him.
这一点让我把注意力转向作为导师的史蒂芬•柯维本人。在他神奇的生涯中，对于他所造成的冲击和影响力，他始终展现出令人折服的谦逊。此外，他还有着不屈不挠的意志来帮助人们了解他的效能理念。他由衷地相信，如果人们遵照这七个习惯生活，这个世界会变得更加美好，这个信念在全书通都篇闪耀着光辉。史蒂芬•柯维尽到了最大努力来言传身教。他说他自己在培养习惯5（知彼解己）上遭遇了最多困难。这是一个巨大的讽刺，因为他在撰写此书前，曾花费了数十年时间开展知识之旅，增长见闻。他从学者转变为教师，之后学会了写作，并借此让他的教育学说经久不衰。他在这方面开创了先河。在习惯2中，史蒂芬给予了我们挑战，让我们预想自己的葬礼，同时思考一个问题：“你希望各个发言人如何评价你和你的一生？你希望他们在你身上看到什么品格？你希望他们记住你的哪些贡献和成就？”我相信，当这些问题应用于他的身上时，他一定会感到欣慰。
No person lasts forever, but books and ideas can endure. When you engage with these pages, you will be engaging with Stephen Covey at the peak of his powers. You can feel him reaching out from the text to say "Here, I really believe this, let me help you -- I want you to get this, to learn from it, I want you to grow, to be better, to contribute more, to make a life that matters." His life is done, but his work is not. It continues, right here in this book, as alive today as when first written. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is twenty-five years young, off to a very strong start indeed.
没有人能永垂不朽，但书籍和思想可以流传百世。大家翻开这本书时，就会沉迷于史蒂芬•柯维极致的力量中。大家可以感觉到他从字里行间向我们伸出手：“嘿！我真的相信这一点，让我来帮助你——我希望你能够理解，从中学到些什么；我希望你能成长，变得更好，做出更大的贡献，创造有意义的人生。”他的生命终止了，但他的工作没有终止，还在继续，就在这本书里，鲜活生动一如刚刚付梓之时。在《高效能人士的七个习惯》25岁之际，正开启一个更强大的未来。
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