Selected John Wooden Quotes
John Wooden- John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. He was nicknamed as the "Wizard of Westwood" because of his remarkable basketball coaching achievements.
He won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head coach for the UCLA Bruins, which includes a record seven wins in a row. No other team has won more than four in a row in Division I college men's or women's basketball. In this period, his teams won an NCAA men's basketball record by 88 consecutive games.
He won the prestigious Henry Iba Award as national coach of the year a record seven times and won the AP award five times.
Selected John Wooden Quotes:
"What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player."
John Wooden, Life
"You can lose when you outscore somebody in a game. And you can win when you’re outscored."
John Wooden, Life
"It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit."
John Wooden, Life
"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."
John Wooden, Life
"You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."
John Wooden, Life
"The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching."
John Wooden, Life
"Nothing will work unless you do."
John Wooden, Life
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
John Wooden, Life
"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
John Wooden, Life
"If you are afraid to fail, you will never do the things you are capable of doing."
John Wooden, Life
"We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else."
John Wooden, Life
"The best competition I have is against myself to become better."
John Wooden, Life
"If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier."
John Wooden, Happiness
"Tell the truth. That way you don’t have to remember a story."
John Wooden, Truth
"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."
John Wooden, Success
"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you capable of becoming."
John Wooden, Success
"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."
John Wooden, Success
"Don’t mistake activity with achievement."
John Wooden, Success, Mistakes
"Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts."
John Wooden, Success, Courage
"You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one."
John Wooden, Criticism
"Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today."
John Wooden, Goals
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
John Wooden, Goals
"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, Goals, Life
"Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them."
John Wooden, Goals, Friendship, Anger and Fighting
"You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes."
John Wooden, Mistakes
"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."
John Wooden, Mistakes
"If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes."
John Wooden, Mistakes
"It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it."
John Wooden, Time
"If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"