Top 400 John Wooden Quotes (2024 Update)
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401. “Winning games, titles and championships isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but getting there, the journey, is a lot more than it’s cracked up to be.”

— John Wooden

402. “Those of us who have been blessed with worldly success have an even greater responsibility to make an impact with our time, talents, and resources.”

— John Wooden

403. “When we aren’t alert, we miss opportunities to improve ourselves. We should always watch for circumstances or situations that can help or harm us and be eager to learn from these encounters.”

— John Wooden

404. “It is most difficult, in my mind, to separate any success, whether it be in your profession, your family, or as in my case, in basketball, from religion.”

— John Wooden

405. “If you let social activities take precedence over your academic activities, then you will soon lose your basketball activities.”

— John Wooden

406. “An effective leader develops the ability to correctly identify the pertinent detail or details – incidentals in a market, industry or sport that might create an incremental advantage.”

— John Wooden

407. “My assistants and I often would spend more time planning a practice than the actual practice itself.”

— John Wooden

408. “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.”

— John Wooden

409. “I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach.”

— John Wooden

410. “Never be thrown off stride in how you behave or what you believe in because of outside events.”

— John Wooden

411. “In life, worthwhile accomplishments and acquisitions take time. Usually the better the reward, the more time it takes to acquire it.”

— John Wooden

412. “Dwelling in the past prevents doing something in the present.”

— John Wooden

413. “I’m no wizard, and I don’t like being thought of in that light at all. I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something, doing something on the sly or something, and I don’t want to be thought of in that way.”

— John Wooden

414. “It is impossible to attain proper physical condition without being sound both mentally and morally.”

— John Wooden

415. “I seldom was ever off my seat on the bench during the game.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

417. “I found golf was too time consuming, but I did enjoy it.”

— John Wooden

418. “People ask me if I’d permit fancy things, like dunks. Well, if they did dunk, it was with no fancy flair. No behind-the-back dribbles or passes unless necessary. If it was for show, you were on the bench.”

— John Wooden

419. “If I did only what I wanted to do, I would not be obedient to the Creator. Sometimes He wants us to do certain things that we may not feel like doing. When it comes to what God asks of us, we need more than good intentions we need to follow through fully.”

— John Wooden

420. “My eyesight is not nearly as good. My hearing is probably going away. My memory is slipping too. But I’m still around.”

— John Wooden

421. “I like to give opinions, not suggestions.”

— John Wooden

422. “He who truly seeks God has found Him.”

— John Wooden

423. “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.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

425. “If we, as coaches, aren’t teachers, we are nothing.”

— John Wooden

426. “Consideration for others brings many things.”

— John Wooden

427. “I was built up from my dad more than anyone else.”

— John Wooden

428. “I wanted my players to always be searching, especially for truth. I wanted them to know what they believed and be able to defend it. Truth will always stand the test of scrutiny.”

— John Wooden

429. “I don’t think I was a fine game coach I think I was a good practice coach.”

— John Wooden

430. “If a player’s not doing the things he should, put him on the bench. He’ll come around.”

— John Wooden

431. “Our titles would not have been possible without the unselfishness displayed by all our teams, the team wins, not the individuals.”

— John Wooden

432. “The problem with new is you don’t have time for the old ones.”

— John Wooden

433. “I also wanted my basketball players to know that I really cared about them. Forget basketball; as a person, I cared, I cared about their family.”

— John Wooden

434. “We are many, but are we much?”

— John Wooden

435. “I’d be satisfied just coaching in high school. I turned down a number of colleges when I was teaching in South Bend, Indiana, before I went into the service. I honestly believe that if I hadn’t enlisted in the service, I would never have left high school teaching. I’m sure I would have never left.”

— John Wooden

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

— John Wooden

437. “If I were a young coach today, I would be extremely careful in selecting assistants.”

— John Wooden

438. “I believe correcting is the positive approach. I believe in the positive approach. Always have.”

— John Wooden

439. “Generally speaking, individual performances don’t win basketball games.”

— John Wooden

440. “When you get to be 95, travel doesn’t come as easily.”

— John Wooden

441. “The greatest ally you have to get things working well and the players performing as a team is the bench. Don’t be afraid to use it, either for the star player or anyone else.”

— John Wooden

442. “With the experience to judge, one need not pre-judge.”

— John Wooden

443. “When everyone has good players, teaching will be a telling difference.”

— John Wooden

444. “You’ve never heard of them- and you never will .”

— John Wooden

445. “Do passing drills that come from your offense.”

— John Wooden

446. “Each of us has a huge capacity to learn and to achieve. Being ever alert makes the task of becoming all we are capable of becoming so much easier.”

— John Wooden