Top 535 Quotes & Sayings by John Wooden - Page 5

Teamwork is not a preference, it is a requirement.

If I did only what I wanted to do, I would not be obedient to the Creator. Sometimes He wants us to do certain things that we may not feel like doing. When it comes to what God asks of us, we need more than good intentions we need to follow through fully.

People want to believe you are sincerely interested in them as a person, not just what they can do for you.

Let’s face it, we’re all imperfect and we’re going to fall short on occasion. But we must learn from failure and that will enable us to avoid repeating our mistakes. Through adversity, we learn, grow stronger, and become better people.

The purpose of discipline is not to punish, but to correct.

I really believe that happiness comes from things that cannot taken away from you.

A player who makes a team great is better than a great player.

Promise to wear a cheerful appearance at all times and give every person you meet a smile.

Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential.

Promise yourself that you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible.

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.

Nothing can give you greater joy than doing something for another.

Love is the most powerful four letter word.

Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.

The score will take care of itself when you take care of the effort that precedes the score.

The importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated. Repetition is the key to learning.

Others may have more ability than you, they may be larger, faster, quicker, better jumpers ... but no one should be your superior in respect to team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, cooperation, determination, industriousness, fight effort, and character.

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.

Everything we know, we learned from someone else!

I believe it’s impossible to claim you have taught, when there are students who have not learned. With that commitment, from my first year as an English teacher until my last as UCLA basketball teacher/coach, I was determined to make the effort to become the best teacher I could possibly be, not for my sake, but for all those who were placed under my supervision.

You can lose when you outscore somebody in a game, and you can win when you're outscored.

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

Confidence comes from being prepared.

I've never stopped trying to do what's right. I'm not doing it to earn favor with God. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do.

There is nothing stronger than gentleness.

Team spirit means you are willing to sacrifice personal considerations for the welfare of all. That defines a team player.

Loyalty is very important when things get a little tough, as they often do when the challenge is great. Loyalty is a powerful force in producing one's individual best and more so in producing a team's best.

Too often, we just ask for help instead of really giving thanks for the many things that we've had and are so helpful to us that we did nothing to deserve, so we should give thanks each and every day and pray for guidance in helping us along the proper path.

Hustle makes up for many a mistake.

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.

Success is a personal matter - only you as an individual can tell if you did everything within your power to give your best effort

Lead, don't drive. And give credit. Don't blame. If an officer on your team suggested something and it worked well, give them credit. If it doesn't work well, you take the blame because you made the decision.

The true athlete should have character, not be a character

Selfishness is the greatest challenge for a coach. Most players are more concerned with making themselves better than the team.

When people ask me now if I miss coaching UCLA basketball games, the national championships, the attention, the trophies, and everything that goes with them, I tell them this: I miss the practices.

Parenting is the most important profession in the world.

I believe we are most likely to succeed when ambition is focused on noble and worthy purposes and outcomes rather than on goals set out of selfishness.

There is great joy in doing something for somebody else with no thought in receiving anything in return.

We’re all imperfect and we all have needs. The weak usually do not ask for help, so they stay weak. If we recognize that we are imperfect, we will ask for help and we will pray for the guidance necessary to bring positive results to whatever we are doing.

The coach is first of all a teacher.

Listen if you want to be heard

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

Each of us must make the effort to contribute to the best of our ability according to our individual talents. And then we put all the individual talents together for the highest good of the group. Understanding that the good of the group comes first is fundamental to being a highly productive member of a team.

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

You can respect a person without necessarily liking that individual.

A coach's primary function should be not to make better players, but to make better people

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

Never did I want to call the first time-out during a game. Never. I wanted UCLA to come out and run our opponents so hard that they would be forced to call the first time-out just to catch their breath. At that first time-out the opponents would know, and we would know that they knew, who was in better condition. This has a psychological impact.

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.

There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning.

Forget favors given; remember those received.

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

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

Losing does not make you a failure; it is when you blame someone for losing when you become a failure

We can become great in the eyes of others, but we'll never become successful when we compromise our character and show disloyalty toward friends or teammates. The reverse is also true: No individual or team will become great without loyalty.

There are three things an athlete must do. You must be in physical condition ... You must execute properly and quickly the fundamentals ... and you must have eagerness to sacrifice personal interests or glory for the welfare of the team.

A good banker isn't careless with pennies; a good leader isn't sloppy about details.

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

While I made my living as a coach, I have lived my life to be a mentor-and to be mentored!-constantly.Everything in the world has been passed down. Every piece of knowledge is something that has been shared by someone else. If you understand it as I do, mentoring becomes your true legacy. It is the greatest inheritance you can give to others. It is why you get up every day-to teach and be taught.