Top 400 John Wooden Quotes (2024 Update)
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101. “Promise yourself you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible. Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best in yourself and others. Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future.”

— John Wooden

102. “Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings everyday.”

— John Wooden

103. “It’s too late for preparation when opportunity strikes.”

— John Wooden

104. “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.”

— John Wooden

105. “There is no great fun, satisfaction, or joy derived from doing something that’s easy.”

— John Wooden

106. “We will begin by learning how to tie our shoes.”

— John Wooden

107. “First be the best and then be first.”

— John Wooden

108. “Good coaching is about leadership and instilling respect in your players. Dictators lead through fear – good coaches do not.”

— John Wooden

109. “Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.”

— John Wooden

110. “Teamwork is not a preference, it is a requirement.”

— John Wooden

111. “The best way to improve your team is to improve yourself.”

— John Wooden

112. “Details create success.”

— John Wooden

113. “Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time.”

— John Wooden

114. “Ability is a poor man’s wealth.”

— John Wooden

115. “It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.”

— John Wooden

116. “Discipline of others isn’t punishment. You discipline to help, to improve, to correct, to prevent, not to punish, humiliate, or retaliate.”

— John Wooden

117. “A mistake is valuable if you do four things with it: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.”

— John Wooden

118. “You will never outperform your inner circle.”

— John Wooden

119. “Strive to accomplish the very best you are capable of. Nothing less than your best effort will suffice.”

— John Wooden

120. “Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you.”

— John Wooden

121. “Cooperation – To get cooperation, you must give cooperation. Always seek to find the best way rather than insisting on your own way.”

— John Wooden

122. “Adversity often produces an unexpected opportunity. Look for it ! Appreciate and utilize it! This is difficult to do if you’re feeling sorry for yourself because you’re faced with adversity.”

— John Wooden

123. “Why can’t we have patience and expect good things to take time?”

— John Wooden

124. “The best competition I have is against myself to become better.”

— John Wooden

125. “The time to prepare isn’t after you have been given the opportunity. It’s long before that opportunity arises. Once the opportunity arrives, it’s too late to prepare.”

— John Wooden

126. “Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at time. That’s the only way it happens-and when it happens, it lasts.”

— John Wooden

127. “There is no substitute for hard work. If you’re looking for the easy way, if you’re looking for the trick, you might get by for a while, but you will not be developing the talents that lie within you. There is simply no substitute for work.”

— John Wooden

128. “Helping others is perhaps the greatest joy! You cannot have a perfect day without helping others with no thought of getting something in return.”

— John Wooden

129. “Understand there is a price to be paid for achieving anything of significance. You must be willing to pay the price.”

— John Wooden

130. “You can’t do anything about yesterday, and the only way to improve tomorrow is by what you do right now.”

— John Wooden

131. “Rest when you need to, but never quit.”

— John Wooden

132. “As long as you try your best, you are never a failure. That is, unless you blame others.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

134. “Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Focus all your effort on what is in your power to control.”

— John Wooden

135. “Loyalty is a cohesive force that forges individuals into a team.”

— John Wooden

136. “The purpose is to help, to prevent, to correct, to improve, rather than to punish. Criticism is not meant to punish, but rather to correct something that is preventing better results. The only goal is improvement.”

— John Wooden

137. “Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress.”

— John Wooden

138. “All change may not be progress, but all progress is the result of change.”

— John Wooden

139. “I’m not afraid to die.”

— John Wooden

140. “A life not lived for others is not a life, a game not played for others is not a game.”

— John Wooden

141. “Confidence – Poise and confidence are not possible unless you have prepared correctly. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Poise and confidence are a natural result of proper preparation.”

— John Wooden

142. “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.”

— John Wooden

143. “Good values are like a magnet – they attract good people.”

— John Wooden

144. “Perfection is impossibility but striving for perfection is not. Do the best you can. That is what counts.”

— John Wooden

145. “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.”

— John Wooden

146. “How you run the race – your planning, preparation, practice, and performance – counts for everything. Winning or losing is a by-product, and aftereffect, of that effort.”

— John Wooden

147. “The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move.”

— John Wooden

148. “Bad times can make you bitter or better.”

— John Wooden

149. “Remember this your lifetime through: Tomorrow there will be more to do. And failure waits for all who stay With some success made yesterday. Tomorrow you must try once more, And even harder than before.”

— John Wooden

150. “Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you.”

— John Wooden