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75 Unforgettable John Wooden Quotes

John Wooden was Born on October 14, 1910, in Hall, Indiana. John Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. He was the head coach at UCLA and won 10 NCAA National Championships in a 12 year period, including an unprecedented 7 in a row. John Wooden was regarded as one of the wisest and best college coaches in the history of college basketball. Here is Our Collection of 75 Unforgettable John Wooden Quotes.

Take a Look at 75 Unforgettable John Wooden Quotes:

Here are 75 Unforgettable John Wooden Quotes:

1. “Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.” – John Wooden

2. “Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” – John Wooden

3. “Make each day your masterpiece“ – John Wooden

4. “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.” – John Wooden

5. “Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books – especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.” – John Wooden

6. “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” – John Wooden

7. “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.” – John Wooden

8. “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden

9. “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” – John Wooden

10. “Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” – John Wooden

11. “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.” – John Wooden

12. “In the end, it’s about the teaching, and what I always loved about coaching was the practices. Not the games, not the tournaments, not the alumni stuff. But teaching the players during practice was what coaching was all about to me.” – John Wooden

13. “Just try to be the best you can be; never cease trying to be the best you can be. That’s in your power.” – John Wooden

14. “A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.” – John Wooden

15. “The best competition I have is against myself to become better. – John Wooden

16. “The most important thing in the world is family and love.” – John Wooden

17. “I had three rules for my players: No profanity. Don’t criticize a teammate. Never be late.” – John Wooden

18. “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” – John Wooden

19. “The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.” – John Wooden

20. “Passion is momentary; love is enduring.” – John Wooden

21. “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

22. “I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession.” – John Wooden

23. “Never mistake activity for achievement.” – John Wooden

24. “What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.” – John Wooden

25. “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”– John Wooden

26. “I think you have to be what you are. Don’t try to be somebody else. You have to be yourself at all times.” – John Wooden

27. “Be true to yourself. Make each day a masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day.” – John Wooden

28. “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.” – John Wooden

29. “Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.” – John Wooden

30. “I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.”  John Wooden

31. “I’d rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.” – John Wooden

32. “Well, if you’re true to yourself you’re going to be true to everyone else.” – John Wooden

33. “Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.” – John Wooden

34. “Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.” – John Wooden

35. “Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.” – John Wooden

36. “If I were a young coach today, I would be extremely careful in selecting assistants.” – John Wooden

37. “Teaching players during practices was what coaching was all about to me.” – John Wooden

38. “Discipline yourself, and others won’t need to.” – John Wooden

39. “If a player’s not doing the things he should, put him on the bench. He’ll come around.” – John Wooden

40. “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.” – John Wooden

41. “Well, your greatest joy definitely comes from doing something for another, especially when it was done with no thought of something in return.” – John Wooden

42. “We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else.” – John Wooden

43. “When you hurry you’re more apt to make mistakes. But you have to be quick. If you’re not quick you can’t get things done.” – John Wooden

44. “Somebody asked me – you know, how come it took you so long to win a national championship? And I said, ‘I’m a slow learner; but you notice when I learn something, I have it down pretty good.’” – John Wooden

45. “Ability is a poor man’s wealth.” – John Wooden

46. “I don’t believe in praying to win.” – John Wooden

47. “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” – John Wooden

48. “Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that.” – John Wooden

49. “It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.” – John Wooden

50. “I don’t think I was a fine game coach. I’m trying to be honest. I think I was a good practice coach.” – John Wooden

51. “I don’t believe in fate.” – John Wooden

52. “You can do more good by being good than any other way.” – John Wooden

53. “If there’s anything you could point out where I was a little different, it was the fact that I never mentioned winning.” – John Wooden

54. “I’m no wizard, and I don’t like being thought of in that light at all. I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something, doing something on the sly or something, and I don’t want to be thought of in that way.” – John Wooden

55. “No one can really honestly be the very best, no one.” – John Wooden

56. “Never lie, never cheat, never steal.” – John Wooden

57. “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

58. “I like to spend time in the past, with the things that have been important to me.” – John Wooden

59. “Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.” ― John Wooden

60. “Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.” ― John Wooden

61. “It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.” ― John Wooden

62. “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” ― John Wooden

63. “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” ― John Wooden

64. “It is the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” – John Wooden

65. “Happiness begins where selfishness ends.” ― John Wooden

66. “Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time” ― John Wooden

67. “Listen if you want to be heard” ― John Wooden

68. “Never try to be better than someone else. Learn from others, and try to be the best you can be. Success is the by-product of that preparation.” ― John Wooden

69. “Nothing will work unless you do.” – John Wooden

70. “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

71. “Tell the truth. That way you don’t have to remember a story.”  John Wooden

72. “If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.” John Wooden

73. “You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes”  John Wooden

74. “Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress.” – John Wooden

75. “I was built up from my dad more than anyone else.” – John Wooden

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