Top 535 Quotes & Sayings by John Wooden - Page 6

Not everyone is equipped to be a leader, but in a sense, everyone is a leader to someone, even though you're not equipped. I think parents are a leader to youngsters, teacher are leaders, coaches are leaders, businessmen are leaders.

How many of us have conflicts with someone else- and how many of us pray for that person? We have individuals with whom we are competitive, or whom we dislike or have a quarrel with; but very few of us have true enemies in the martial sense. And yet if Lincoln could pray fervently- and contemporary reports indicate he did- for the people who were opposing him, how much more can we do for someone we just find a little irritating?

Good players can take coaching; great players can take coaching and learn.

The choice you make, makes you.

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

Respect a man, and he will do all the more.

Happiness begins when selfishness ends.

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.

The uphill climb is slow,but the downhill road is fast.

I never let our players get satisfied, I never let our Coaches get satisfied, I was never satisfied. We can always do it better.

IF you are not making mistakes, then you are not doing anything.

What you do in practice is going to determine your level of success. I used to tell my players, 'You have to give 100 percent every day. Whatever you don't give, you can't make up for tomorrow. If you give only 75 percent today, you can't give 125 percent tomorrow to make up for it.'

Being true to ourselves doesn't make us people of integrity. Charles Manson was true to himself, and as a result, he rightly is spending the rest of his life in prison. Ultimately, being true to our Creator gives us the purest form of integrity.

I never yelled at my players much. That would have been artificial stimulation, which doesn't last very long. I think it's like love and passion. Passion won't last as long as love. When you are dependent on passion, you need more and more of it to make it work. It's the same with yelling.

Bad times can make you bitter or better.

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

The better conditioned team will probably win in the long run.

We will begin by learning how to tie our shoes.

Make greatness attainable by all.

I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day

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

Many ... have tremendous God-given gifts, but they don't focus on the development of those gifts. Who are these individuals? You've never heard of them- and you never will .

There is no great fun, satisfaction, or joy derived from doing something that's easy.

I think that in any group activity - whether it be business, sports, or family - there has to be leadership or it wont be successful.

You never fail if you know in your heart that you did the best of which you are capable.

It is important for us to see that our mentors are human and therefore fallible; it makes our own shortcomings more tenable.

When it's over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best you were capable of? If yes, you will probably be ok with the outcome

Earlier in life, I put family in front of faith. I've fixed that. But I always tried to keep work fourth on the list. I was proud when [my wife] Nellie told an interviewer, 'I never could tell whether John had a good practice or a bad practice, because he never brought it home'

Don't let the things you can't do get in the way of the things you can.

Great leaders are always out front with a banner, instead of behind with a whip.

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.

Too often we get distracted by what is outside of our control. You can't do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece. You have control over that.

The true leader isn't really looking for leadership. He's trying to set an example and be in the proper way to get the most productive results and don't realize it. When the followers get something done, if the leader has been what he should, they'll feel like they did it, not him. That's the way it should be.

I never met a person from whom I did not learn something.

Leaders must have patience for those under your supervision. Don't expect too much too soon. Maybe it was easy for you, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy for somebody else. Be sure you have patience.

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

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

The leader has to command the respect of all those under his supervision - and he must be open to those under his supervision. Effective leadership means having a lot of people working toward a common goal. And when you have that with no one caring who gets the credit, you're going to accomplish a lot. If you have those just wanting the credit for themselves, you're not going to get as much accomplished.

What it comes down to, I believe, is that mentoring often involves telling people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear. When you are able to be humbly honest with someone about a situation with which you have personal experience-even if you risk angering or hurting that person-you are offering the most valuable gift of all.

Reverse the ball one time for a good shot, two times for a great shot, three times for a layup.

Every day was a good day at UCLA.

Although I wanted my players to work to win, I tried to convince them they had always won when they had done their best.

I continually stress to my players that all I expect from them at practice and in the games is their maximum effort.

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

Next to love, balance is the most important thing.

Cervantes said the journey's better than the end. Practices, to me, were the journey.

Over-coaching can be more harmful than under-coaching. Keep it simple!

We are many, but are we much?

You get ideas across better through listening and the pat-on-the-back method than you do with a kick on the pants.

An effective leader allows exceptions to the rule for exceptional results or when circumstance demands.

Thou didst thy best, that is success.

A Coach must never forget that he is a leader and not merely a person with authority.

I do not judge success based on championships; rather, I judge it on how close we came to realizing our potential

Condition comes from hard work during practice and proper mental and moral conduct between practices.

Make no mistake, I always want to win, but I never fight with an opponent. My fight is within me it is the struggle to be the best I can be at whatever I do.

Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit trouble to press on you.

I do not want players who do not have a keen desire to win and do not play hard and aggressively to accomplish that objective.

Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.

You never want to confuse activity with accomplishment.

If we, as coaches, aren't teachers, we are nothing