These John Wooden quotes showcase the wisdom, intelligence, and winning attitude of the most successful college basketball coach.
Wooden coached his UCLA Bruins squad to 10 NCAA championships in just 12 years, including an amazing streak of seven consecutive titles. His coaching philosophy was encapsulated with this “Pyramid of Success” chart that placed heavy emphasis on hard work, character, and teamwork. Due to his outstanding success and thoughtful approach, he was nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood.
Much of Wooden’s wisdom is just as applicable off the court as on. Let’s start with some of his best quotes.
Best John Wooden Quotes
- Never mistake activity for achievement.
- Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.
- Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
- Discipline yourself, and others won’t need to.
- Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
- Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.
- It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
- Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today
- Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
- The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
- The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move.
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Good John Wooden Quotes
- Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
- If you are afraid to fail, you will never do the things you are capable of doing.
- Although I wanted my players to work to win, I tried to convince them they had always won when they had done their best.
- It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
- Tell the truth. That way you don’t have to remember a story.
- It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
- If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
- Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
- Ability is poor man’s wealth.
- See Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.
Short Quotes from John Wooden
- What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.
- It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
- The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
- You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.
- You can do more good by being good than any other way.
- The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
- Today is the only day. Yesterday is gone.
- Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.
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About Basketball
- Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
- Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.
- Young people need models, not critics.
- Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.
- Teaching players during practices was what coaching was all about to me.
- I’d rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.
On Coaching
- I had three rules for my players: No profanity. Don’t criticize a teammate. Never be late.
- A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.
- I don’t think I was a fine game coach. I’m trying to be honest. I think I was a good practice coach.
- I seldom was ever off my seat on the bench during the game.
- It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
- It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
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On Life
- Nothing will work unless you do.
- Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
- The most important thing in the world is family and love.
- Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating.
- Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendships 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.
- Today is the only day. Yesterday is gone.
- Never lie, never cheat, never steal.
- Never try to be better than someone else. Learn from others, and try to be the best you can be. Success is the by-product of that preparation.
- 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.
- Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.
- You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
- You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.
About Motivation
- Never mistake activity for achievement.
- Happiness begins where selfishness ends.
- Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.
- Passion is momentary; love is enduring.
- Listen if you want to be heard.
- Love is the most important thing in the world. Hate, we should remove it from the dictionary.
- Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.
- Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
- Never cease trying to be the best you can be.
- The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.
- We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else.
About Success
- It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.
- 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.
- Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.
- Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.
- The best competition I have is against myself to become better.
- I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.
- Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
- Just try to be the best you can be; never cease trying to be the best you can be. That’s in your power.
- It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.
- Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
- You can never make up for a lost day… Don’t think you can make up for it by working twice as hard tomorrow. If you have it within your power to work twice as hard, why aren’t you doing it now?
- 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.
On Education
Here are some excellent John Wooden quotes on education and teaching.
- The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.
- 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.
- Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating…too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.
- Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
- Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
- It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it.
- Young people need models, not critics.
- I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession.
- 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.
- In the end, it’s about the teaching, and what I always loved about coaching was the practices. Not the games, not the tournaments, not the alumni stuff. But teaching the players during practice was what coaching was all about to me.
John Wooden Fun Facts
A.) Wooden was the first person elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.
B.) The Nation’s outstanding player as chosen by a media poll earns the John R. Wooden Award.
C.) Wooden led his high school, Martinsville High, to the Indiana State Title in 1927.
D.) Over the course of four seasons, Wooden led the UCLA Bruins to 88 consecutive wins. Amazing!
E.) John Wooden was named the NCAA’s College Basketball Coach of the Year six times.
F.) Wooden served as a Navy Lieutenant during World War II.
G.) John Wooden was 5′ 10″ tall.
H.) Wooden played college basketball for Purdue where he won two Big Ten titles and the 1932 National Championship.
I.) His nickname was the Indiana Rubber Man because of his frequent dives on the court.
J.) ESPN selected Wooden as the “Coach of the 20th Century” in 1999.
I hope you enjoyed this look at the wisdom of John Wooden.
By Mike O’Halloran
Founder and Editor, Sports Feel Good Stories
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