Quotes by John Wooden

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

"You can do more good by being good than any other way."

"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."

"Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that."

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."

"Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters."

"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."

"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."

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

"Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you."

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

"I like to spend time in the past, with the things that have been important to me."

"I found golf was too time consuming, but I did enjoy it."

"There's as much crookedness as you want to find. There was something Abraham Lincoln said - he'd rather trust and be disappointed than distrust and be miserable all the time. Maybe I trusted too much."

"I think the teaching profession contributes more to the future of our society than any other single profession."

"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to."

"If I am through learning, I am through."

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

"No one can really honestly be the very best, no one."

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

"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."

"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."

"What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player."

"Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you."

"I was built up from my dad more than anyone else."

"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment."

"Defense is a definite part of the game, and a great part of defense is learning to play it without fouling."

"We can have no progress without change, whether it be basketball or anything else."

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

"Never mistake activity for achievement."

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"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."

"Passion is momentary love is enduring."

"The most important thing in the world is family and love."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"My eyesight is not nearly as good. My hearing is probably going away. My memory is slipping too. But I'm still around."

"Love is the most important thing in the world. Hate, we should remove from the dictionary."

"I'm glad I was a teacher."

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

"I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty."

"I'm not going to say I was opposed to the Vietnam War. I'm going to say I'm opposed to war. But I'm also opposed to protests that deny other people their rights."

"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."