John Wooden's Quotes

I've been blessed in so many ways.

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.

All of life is peaks and valleys. Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.

Passion is momentary; love is enduring.

Ability is a poor man's wealth.

Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that.

You can do more good by being good than any other way.

I found golf was too time consuming, but I did enjoy it.

When you hurry you're more apt to make mistakes. But you have to be quick. If you're not quick you can't get things done.

Earn the right to be proud and confident.

I like to spend time in the past, with the things that have been important to me.

If I were a young coach today, I would be extremely careful in selecting assistants.

Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.

My eyesight is not nearly as good. My hearing is probably going away. My memory is slipping too. But I'm still around.

I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs.

I don't believe in praying to win.

I seldom was ever off my seat on the bench during the game.

I talked to the players and tried to make them aware of what was good and bad, but I didn't try to run their lives.

I'm glad I was a teacher.

If there's anything you could point out where I was a little different, it was the fact that I never mentioned winning.

I don't believe in fate.

I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty.

I was built up from my dad more than anyone else.

No one can really honestly be the very best, no one.

There's as much crookedness as you want to find. There was something Abraham Lincoln said - he'd rather trust and be disappointed than distrust and be miserable all the time. Maybe I trusted too much.

I'd be satisfied just coaching in high school. I turned down a number of colleges when I was teaching in South Bend, Indiana, before I went into the service. I honestly believe that if I hadn't enlisted in the service, I would never have left high school teaching. I'm sure I would have never left.

I'm no wizard, and I don't like being thought of in that light at all. I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something, doing something on the sly or something, and I don't want to be thought of in that way.

I'm not going to say I was opposed to the Vietnam War. I'm going to say I'm opposed to war. But I'm also opposed to protests that deny other people their rights.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.

Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you.

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.

It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one.

Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.

Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.

Friendship is two-sided. It isn't a friend just because someone's doing something nice for you. That's a nice person. There's friendship when you do for each other. It's like marriage - it's two-sided.

Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.

There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.