Recently I have become a bit captivated by John Wooden’s words of wisdom.  In all seriousness, Wooden’s quotes are as inspiring as any I have ever read.  These are a few of his best ones below…

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

Ability is a poor man’s wealth.

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.

Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.

Although there is no progress without change, not all change is progress.

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

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.

Be more concerned with what you can do for others than what others can do for you. You’ll be surprised at the results.

Be most interested in find the best way, not in having your own way .

Be prepared and be honest.

Be slow to criticize and quick to commend.

Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top.

Big things are accomplished only through the perfection of minor details.

Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.

Discipline yourself and others won’t need to

Do not mistake activity for achievement.

Do not permit what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do.

Don’t let making a living present you from making a life.

Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.

Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but what you should have accomplished with your ability.

Don’t permit fear of failure to prevent effort. We are all imperfect and will fail on occasions, but fear of failure is the greatest failure of all.

Earn the right to be proud and confident.

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

Forget favors given; remember those recieved.

Goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting.

Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

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

I will get ready and then, perhaps, my chance will come.

If I am through learning, I am through.

If we magnified blessings as much as we magnifiy dissappointments, we would all be much happier.

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

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

It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.

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

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

It is what you learn after you know it all that counts.

Make each day your masterpiece.

Make sure the team members know they’re working with you, not for you.

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.

Much can be accomplished by teamwork when no one is concerned about what gets credit.

Never be disagreeable just because you disagree.

Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.

Never mistake activity for achievement.

Nothing can give you greater joy than doing something for another.

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

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

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.

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

Tell the truth. That way you don’t have to remember a story.

The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

The best way to improve the team is to improve us.

The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.

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

The more concerned we become over the things we can’t control, the less we will do with the things we can control.

The smallest good deed is better than the best intention.

The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.

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.

There is nothing stronger than gentleness.

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

Time spent getting even would be better spent trying to get ahead.

We are many, but are we much?

What is right is more important than who is right.

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

Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.

You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.

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

You discipline those under your supervision to correct, to help, to improve – not to punish.

You handle things. You work with people.

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