“It is most difficult, in my mind, to separate any success, whether it bein your profession, your family, or as in my case, in basketball, fromreligion.”
— John Wooden
“A leader who is through learning is through.”
— John Wooden
“Reputation is what others perceive you as being, and their opinion may be right or wrong. Character, however, is what you really are, and nobody knows that but you.”
— John Wooden
“Good values are like a magnet, they attract good people.”
— John Wooden
“Remember, results aren’t the criteria for success — it’s the effort made for achievement that is most important.”
— John Wooden
“Don’t mistake activity with achievement.”
— John Wooden
“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
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over?”
— John Wooden
“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
— John Wooden
“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.”
— John Wooden
“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.”
– John Wooden
“I like to spend time in the past, with the things that have been important to me.”
– John Wooden
“I found golf was too time consuming, but I did enjoy it.”
– John Wooden
“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.”
– John Wooden
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
– John Wooden
“I’m glad I was a teacher.”
– John Wooden
“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.”
– John Wooden
“Passion is momentary love is enduring.”
– John Wooden
“Love is the most important thing in the world. Hate, we should remove from the dictionary.”
– John Wooden
“Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.”
– John Wooden
“If I am through learning, I am through.”
– John Wooden
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
– John Wooden
“Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.”
– John Wooden
“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.”
– John Wooden
“My eyesight is not nearly as good. My hearing is probably going away. My memory is slipping too. But I’m still around.”
– John Wooden
“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.”
– John Wooden
“You can do more good by being good than any other way.”
– John Wooden
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
– John Wooden
“I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession.”
– John Wooden
“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.”
– John Wooden