John Wooden Quotes-John Robert Wooden, UCLA coach was born on October 14, 1910, in Martinsville, Indiana. He was born to be a teacher, says few. Wooden, always found time to play basketball in the barn with his brothers. In 1925, when his family returned to Martinsville, from Centerton, he found the love of his life Nellie Riley, with whom he spent the rest of his life. He was a basketball player and became famous and lead his team to Indiana state championship in 1927. Later he graduated with Honors and a degree in English. He also won College basketball player of the year award and Purdue was voted as a national team in 1932.
After he joined UCLA in 1948 and spent his rest of the life as a “Coach”, training and inspiring young athletes, and leading them to win 10 National Championships. His undefeated 88-game winning streak ended in 1974 and he was termed as “The Wizard of Westwood”. Later he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003. This legend has passed away on June 4th, 2010, leaving behind his legacy and to rest along with his love Nellie. This legend has set many milestones and inspired many of his followers throughout his life. Here are a few John Wooden Quotes that help us learn about Success in life.
Short Motivational Quotes by John Wooden
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
“Make each day your masterpiece.”
“Never lie, never cheat, never steal.”
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
“The best competition I have is against myself to become better.”
“Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.”
“Young people need models, not critics.”
“Success is never final, failure is never fatal, and it’s courage that counts.”
“Never cease trying to be the best you can be.”
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
“If you are afraid to fail, you will never do the things you are capable of doing.”
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”
“You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.”
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
“Make each day your masterpiece“
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
“I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs.”
“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
“I think you have to be what you are. Don’t try to be.”
“It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.”
“Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.”
“Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”
“Discipline yourself, and others won’t need to.”
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
“Ability is a poor man’s wealth.”
“I don’t believe in praying to win.”
“Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that.”
“It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.”
“Be prepared and be honest.”
“If I am through learning, I am through.”
“Earn the right to be proud and confident.”
“I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty.”
“I don’t believe in fate.”
“You can do more good by being good than any other way.”
“It is the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
“Happiness begins where selfishness ends.”
“Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time”.
“Listen if you want to be heard”.
“Talent is god-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
“The best competition I have is against myself to become better.”
“The most important thing in the world is family and love.”
Inspirational Quotes by John Wooden.
“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.”
“You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better.”
“Talent is god-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
“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.”
“You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better.”
“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
“Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.”
“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.”
“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
“Don’t let making a living prevent you from making a life.”
“Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
“Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.”
“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
“We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else.”
“If you are afraid to fail, you will never do the things you are capable of doing.”
“Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
“Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”
“Well, if you’re true to yourself you’re going to be true to everyone else.”
“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”
“I’d rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.”
“I think you have to be what you are. Don’t try to be somebody else. You have to be yourself at all times.”
“Well, your greatest joy definitely comes from doing something for another, especially when it was done with no thought of something in return.”
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
“Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.”
“Just try to be the best you can be; never cease trying to be the best you can be. That’s in your power.”
“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.”
“If there’s anything you could point out where I was a little different, it was the fact that I never mentioned winning.”
“Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that.”
“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.”
“If you’re not making mistakes then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.”
“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.”
“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.”
“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”
“Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling.”
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
“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.”
“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.”
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
“Love is the most important thing in the world. Hate, we should remove from the dictionary.”
“I like to spend time in the past, with the things that have been important to me.”
“No one can really honestly be the very best, no one.”
“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.”
“My eyesight is not nearly as good. My hearing is probably going away. My memory is slipping too. But I’m still around.”
“I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession.”
“What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.”
“All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.”
“Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.”
“If I were a young coach today, I would be extremely careful in selecting assistants.”
“I think that in any group activity – whether it be business, sports, or family – there has to be leadership or it won’t be successful.”
“I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty.”
“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.”
“It takes time to create excellence. If it could be done quickly, more people would do it.”
“Happiness begins where selfishness ends.”
“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.”
“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.”
These John Wooden Quotes, explain that if a person wouldn’t invest a good amount of time in doing something right in the first place, then there won’t be any possibility of him spending more time, to attempt to do the same task again. So before thinking of doing something right, think of its rank in your Priority list.
If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.
If you are a doer, then you are likely to make mistakes. And when you find yourself doing a mistake that means you are making a steady progress. But if you are not even attempting to do something, then you won’t be making any mistakes and you will remain in the same place all your life!
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, you need a team.
Although this seems to be a quote related to a sport like Basketball, it applies to real life incident as well. When you want to achieve something faster, you can go alone. But if you want to achieve something bigger, you will need a team that supports you all the way.
These quotes by the Legendary “Coach” and the “Wizard of Westwood” explains success based on his own creation, the pyramid of success.