Top 400 John Wooden Quotes (2024 Update)
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251. “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

252. “Class is an intangible quality which commands, rather than demands, the respect of others.”

— John Wooden

253. “No one is an overachiever. How can you rise above your level of competency? Everyone is an underachiever to different degrees. The harder you work, the more luck you will have.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

255. “Thou didst thy best, that is success.”

— John Wooden

256. “As a leader, you must be filled with energy and eagerness, joy and love for what you do. If you lack enthusiasm for your job, you cannot perform to the best of your ability. Industriousness is unattainable without Enthusiasm.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

258. “No individual should take the blame for a loss, because no individual should get the credit for a victory.”

— John Wooden

259. “What a leader learns after you’ve learned it all counts most of all.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

261. “1. Be on time. 2. Never criticize a teammate. 3. Never use profanity.”

— John Wooden

262. “Joy makes the longest journey too short.”

— John Wooden

263. “A mentor must always guide, never push. It was my job to listen to them, offer my perspective, and encourage them to pursue the ideals they believed to be true.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

265. “Many leaders don’t listen, and it is one of the greatest methods we have of learning. You need to listen to those under your supervision and to those who are above you.”

— John Wooden

266. “Since the most important responsibility of a coach in regard to the actual playing of the game is to teach his players properly and effectively to execute the various fundamentals of the game, he is first of all a teacher.”

— John Wooden

267. “For an athlete to function properly, he must be intent. There has to be a definite purpose and goal if you are to progress. If you are not intent about what you are doing, you aren’t able to resist the temptation to do something else that might be more fun at the moment.”

— John Wooden

268. “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.”

— John Wooden

269. “I don’t believe in looking back. If you make a decision that you think is the proper one at a time, then that’s the correct decision.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

271. “A good banker isn’t careless with pennies; a good leader isn’t sloppy about details.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

273. “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.”

— John Wooden

274. “How hard you work at correcting your faults reveals your character.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

276. “The athlete who says that something can’t be done should never interrupt the one who’s doing it.”

— John Wooden

277. “Some of my greatest pleasures have come from finding ways to overcome obstacles.”

— John Wooden

278. “Be true to yourself. Be true to those you lead.”

— John Wooden

279. “Be slow to correct and quick to commend.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

281. “You can respect a person without necessarily liking that individual.”

— John Wooden

282. “One of the greatest motivating things that a coach has is the bench. They all love to play, all of them. You sit them on the bench, and they come around pretty good.”

— John Wooden

283. “The important things to me are your faith, your family and your friends. If you have that, you have everything.”

— John Wooden

284. “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.”

— John Wooden

285. “Why do we dread adversity when we know that facing it is the only way to become stronger, smarter, better?”

— John Wooden

286. “Your energy and enjoyment, drive and dedication will stimulate and greatly inspire others.”

— John Wooden

287. “It’s important to keep trying to do what you think is right no matter how hard it is or how often you fail. Never stop trying.”

— John Wooden

288. “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

289. “I’d rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

291. “You must have respect, which is a part of love, for those under your supervision. Then they will do what you ask and more.”

— John Wooden

292. “We are all equal in that we can all strive to become the best we are capable of becoming. We can always improve but we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. We get in trouble when we start trying to measure up to someone else.”

— John Wooden

293. “If pursuing material things becomes your only goal, you will fail in so many ways. Besides, in time all material things go away.”

— John Wooden

294. “The true athlete should have character, not be a character.”

— John Wooden

295. “We should never let ambition cause us to sacrifice our integrity or diminish our efforts in other areas. However, we need to remember that we never reach a serious goal unless we have the intention of doing so.”

— John Wooden

296. “Remember, results aren’t the criteria for success – it’s the effort made for achievement that is most important.”

— John Wooden

297. “Conditioning is essential to success in basketball.”

— John Wooden

298. “Never try to be better than someone else. Learn from others, and try to be the best you can be. Success is the by-product of that preparation.”

— John Wooden

299. “Profound responsibilities come with teaching and coaching. You can do so much good–or harm. It’s why I believe that next to parenting, teaching and coaching are the two most important professions in the world.”

— John Wooden

300. “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.”

— John Wooden