John Wooden Quotes

Good judgment, common sense, and reason all fly out the window when emotions kick down your door.

Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve.

Winning and losing aren't all they're cracked up to be, but the trip to the destination is.

We must be challenged to improve, and adversity is the challenger.

Class is an intangible quality which commands, rather than demands, the respect of others.

You can respect a person without necessarily liking that individual.

Sincerity may not help us make friends, but it will help us keep them.

In my opinion, being an effective leader requires being an effective listener. The most productive leaders are usually those who are consistently willing to listen and learn.

You can always do more than you think you can.

Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special and that you value.

An effective leader develops the ability to correctly identify the pertinent detail or details - incidentals in a market, industry or sport that might create an incremental advantage.

Opponents are working very hard to defeat us. Let's not do it for them by defeating ourselves from within.

Any structure must have a strong foundation. The cornerstones anchor the foundation. For some reason the cornerstones that I chose to begin with I never changed.

Hustle makes up for many a mistake.

Everything we know, we learned from someone else!

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.

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 lie, never cheat, never steal.

Do not get so concerned with making a living that you forget to make a life.

Drink deeply from good books.

Dictators lead through fear; good coaches do not.

We are many, but are we much?

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

What a leader learns after you've learned it all counts most of all.

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.

The man who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success.

Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.

You'd like to see your team reasonably happy, but that's not your job. Gain their respect and get them to accept their roles

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

If we fail to adapt, we fail to move forward.

Well, if you're true to yourself you're going to be true to everyone else.

Push yourself to keep improving or you'll stay as close to the bottom as you are to the top

You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By becoming a little better each and every day, over a period of time, you will become a lot better.

A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every little detail.

You may be better than the rest, but you are not a success until you have made the effort to become the best you can be.

Mix idealism with realism and add hard work. This will often bring much more than you could ever hope for.

Apply yourself everyday to just becoming a little bit better.

It's important to keep trying to do what you think is right no matter how hard it is or how often you fail. Never stop trying

If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.

Listen if you want to be heard

Success is peace of mind in knowing you did your best.

It's not what you teach, it's what you emphasize.

Adversity often produces an unexpected opportunity. Look for it ! Appreciate and utilize it! This is difficult to do if you're feeling sorry for yourself because you're faced with adversity.

I don't believe in looking back. If you make a decision that you think is the proper one at a time, then that's the correct decision.

Failure is not the crime. Low aim is.

The athlete who says that something can't be done should never interrupt the one who's doing it

Remember, results aren't the criteria for success — it's the effort made for achievement that is most important.

I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession.

We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else.

I'm glad I was a teacher.