Top 400 John Wooden Quotes (2026 Update)
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201. “I’ve been blessed in so many ways.”

— John Wooden

202. “We can give without loving, but we can’t love without giving. In fact, love is nothing unless we give it to someone.”

— John Wooden

203. “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.”

— John Wooden

Featured in: Strong Quotes, Caring Quotes

204. “I believe one of the requirements of good leadership is the ability to listen – really listen – to those in your organization. An effective leader is very good at listening, and it’s difficult to listen when you are talking.”

— John Wooden

205. “When I am through learning, I am through.”

— John Wooden

206. “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.”

— John Wooden

207. “Good judgment, common sense, and reason all fly out the window when emotions kick down your door.”

— John Wooden

208. “Make your “yes” mean yes, and your “no” mean no.”

— John Wooden

209. “The four laws of learning are: the first is demonstration of what you want. The second is the criticism of the demonstration. The third is the imitation of the correct model, and the fourth is repetition, over and over until it becomes habit where is you don’t think about it.”

— John Wooden

210. “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.”

— John Wooden

211. “It is easier to reach our potential when we learn the value of including others in our quest.”

— John Wooden

212. “It’s always about focusing not on the mistakes but on the lessons learned from them.”

— John Wooden

213. “Never allow anyone else to define your success.”

— John Wooden

214. “There are little details in everything you do, and if you get away from any one of the little details, you’re not teaching the thing as a whole. For it is little things which, together, make the whole. This, I think, is extremely important.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

216. “Surround yourself with people strong enough to change your mind.”

— John Wooden

Featured in: Strong Quotes

217. “Build shelter against a rainy day.”

— John Wooden

218. “Everything we know, we learned from someone else!”

— John Wooden

219. “It takes 10 hands to score a basket.”

— John Wooden

220. “Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker.”

— John Wooden

221. “The ability to see the good in others and the bad in ourselves is perfect vision.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

223. “You have to work hard, and you have to enjoy what you’re doing. If you don’t enjoy it, no matter how hard you seem to work, you’re not going to be working as hard as you can because you’re not enjoying it.”

— John Wooden

224. “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.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

226. “Doing the best you are capable of doing is victory in itself, and less than that is defeat.”

— John Wooden

227. “The team is the star, never an individual player.”

— John Wooden

228. “As a leader, you will receive a large amount of praise and criticism and you should not unduly affected by either.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

231. “The individual who is mistake-free is also probably sitting around doing nothing. And that is a very big mistake.”

— John Wooden

232. “I grew up on a farm. We learned that there was a season to plant, a season to water, and season to harvest. The planting and watering could be laborious, but without those stages, there would never be a harvest.”

— John Wooden

233. “I think you have to be what you are. Don’t try to be somebody else. You have to be yourself at all times.”

— John Wooden

234. “The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success.”

— John Wooden

235. “My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions.”

— John Wooden

236. “Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good models more than they need critics. It’s one of a parent’s greatest responsibilities and opportunities.”

— John Wooden

237. “Losing is only temporary and not encompassing. You must simply study it, learn from it, and try hard not to lose the same way again. Then you must have the self-control to forget about it.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

239. “Reputation is what others perceive you as being, and their opinion may be right or wrong. Character, however, is what you really are, and nobody truly knows that but you. But you are what matters most.”

— John Wooden

240. “Make friendship a fine art.”

— John Wooden

241. “When you see a successful individual, a champion, you can be very sure that you are looking at an individual who pays great attention to the perfection of minor details.”

— John Wooden

242. “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”

— John Wooden

243. “Work without joy is drudgery. Drudgery does not produce champions, nor does it produce great organizations.”

— John Wooden

244. “A leader must listen to those under their supervision.”

— John Wooden

245. “Enthusiasm brushes off upon those with whom you come in contact.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

247. “Every day was a good day at UCLA.”

— John Wooden

248. “Success is mine when I work my hardest to become my best, and I alone determine whether I do so.”

— John Wooden

249. “Hustle makes up for many a mistake.”

— John Wooden

250. “Working with others makes us much more than we could ever become alone.”

— John Wooden