Wooden Quotes

“The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Never make excuses. Your friends don't need them and your foes won't believe them.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Don't let yesterday take up too much of today.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Discipline yourself and others won't need to.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Happiness begins where selfishness ends.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“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.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“There is nothing stronger than gentleness.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Tell the truth. That way you don't have to remember a story.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“The man who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Make each day your masterpiece.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“We are many, but are we much?”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Failure is not Fatal, but Failure to CHANGE can be.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort? That’s what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“it is important to understand the purpose of criticism. Criticism is not meant to punish, but rather to correct something that is preventing better results. The only goal of criticism or discipline is improvement. You must keep that in mind and try to the best of your ability to use tact.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Perfection is what you are striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“The goal in life is just the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“If a player appeared to be taking it easy in practice, I told him, "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?”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“The locker rooms were clean when we departed because I asked the players to pick up after themselves. I believe this is just common courtesy. Somebody’s going to have to clean it up, and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be the person who messed it up.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“I wanted to win every single game I ever played in or coached. Absolutely. I wanted to win. But, I understood that ultimately the winning or losing may not be under my control. What was under my control was how I prepared myself and our team. I judged my success, my “winning,” on that. It just made more sense.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“Competitiveness must be focused exclusively on the process of what you are doing rather than the result of that effort (the so-called winning or losing).”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“happier. The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“So often we fail to acknowledge what we have because we’re so concerned about what we want.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“I also believe that things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“You can do more good by being good than any other way.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

“It’s so easy to relax, to cut corners, to let down after you’ve reached your goal, and begin thinking you can just “turn it on” automatically, without proper preparation. It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you’re there.”
― John Wooden, Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court