John Wooden Quotes (61 Quotes)


    If you get caught up in things over which you have no control, it will adverselyaffect those things over which you have control.

    (My priorities are) family, Lord, profession, ... And that's not the order it should be, but I think No. 2 understands.

    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.

    I would never have a player come close to taking that many shots in a game. I don't ever recall seeing a player who could do so much with a basketball, but he never played on a championship team.

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


    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.

    I always tried to make clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere.

    That's good, Bill. I admire people who have strong beliefs and stick by them. I really do. We're going to miss you.

    It doesn't make any difference what they go on to, it's a great feeling to see them doing well. I'm just as proud of the ministers and the doctors and the attorneys and the businessmen n every one of 'em.

    It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.

    I'd like to very much because that's home back there.

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

    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.

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

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

    Don't mistake activity for achievement.

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

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

    Cervantes said the journey's better than the end. Practices, to me, were the journey.

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

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

    Young people need models, not critics...

    Not only was he fundamentally sound, but I liked his attitude. He was competitive, yet a gentleman in his play. I thought they played just wonderful basketball.

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

    Although I wanted my players to work to win, I tried to convince them they had always won when they had done their best.

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

    It isn't what you do, but how you do it.

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

    No written word, no spoken pleaCan teach our youth what they should beNor all the books on all the shelvesIts what the teachers are themselves.

    Our land is everything to us... I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember that our grandfathers paid for it - with their lives.

    It is most difficult, in my mind, to separate any success, whether it be in your profession, your family, or as in my case, in basketball, from religion.

    His style would not cut it with me. I wanted the socks all pulled up neatly and I didn't permit long hair. He was different. It was a great attraction. He made fancy shots that I wouldn't allow a player to take.

    Being selected for the McDonald's All American Games is one of the greatest accomplishments in a basketball player's career. Not only will these youth contribute to the list of the best basketball players of all-time, but they will aid in raising money for a very important cause.

    It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.

    I liked quickness very much and Pete had it. And I really liked his acceptance of the role he had. He didn't get to play nearly as much as he expected to when he came, but he accepted it.

    The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

    You cannot attain and maintain physical condition unless you are morally and mentally conditioned. And it is impossible to be in moral condition unless you are spiritually conditioned. I always told my players that our team condition depended on two factors how hard they worked on the floor during practice and how well they behaved between practices.


    Ben has really embraced the tradition of the program, and growing up in Southern California, he understands what it really means. To see him teaching those same principles to his players just gives me a lot of pride.

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

    I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.

    Bill, I know what the other schools say. If you come to UCLA, I can't promise you'll make our team,

    For an athlete to function properly, he must be intent. There has to be a definite purpose and goal if you are to progress. If you are not intent about what you are doing, you aren't able to resist the temptation to do something else that might be more fun at the moment.

    It has to be a team concept. It isn't an individual game.

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


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

    It is what we learn after we know it all that really counts

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

    I never drank alcohol or used tobacco, but George Burns used to smoke a lot and lived to over 100, so maybe that's not the reason,


    More John Wooden Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Success - Basketball - Mind - Error & Mistake - Mastery & Expertise - Work & Career - Characters - Honesty & Integrity - Abilities - Family - Education - Failure - Books - Reputation - Attitude - Hair - Progress - Fame - Perfection - View All John Wooden Quotations

    Related Authors


    Vince Lombardi - Larry Bird - Stuart Pearce - Phil Jackson - Lou Holtz - John Heisman - Graham Taylor - Bobby Knight - Arsene Wenger - Al McGuire


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