Wooden A Lifetime Of Observations Quotes

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

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

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

Discipline yourself and others won't need to.

Happiness begins where selfishness ends.

Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life.

Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating...too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.

There is nothing stronger than gentleness.

If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.

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

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

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

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

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

Make each day your masterpiece.

We are many, but are we much?

Failure is not Fatal, but Failure to CHANGE can be.

The goal in life is just the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing

Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort? That’s what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way.

it is important to understand the purpose of criticism. Criticism is not meant to punish, but rather to correct something that is preventing better results. The only goal of criticism or discipline is improvement. You must keep that in mind and try to the best of your ability to use tact.

Perfection is what you are striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.

If a player appeared to be taking it easy in practice, I told him, "Don't think you can make up for it by working twice as hard tomorrow. If you have it within your power to work twice as hard, why aren't you doing it now?

Competitiveness must be focused exclusively on the process of what you are doing rather than the result of that effort (the so-called winning or losing).

I wanted to win every single game I ever played in or coached. Absolutely. I wanted to win. But, I understood that ultimately the winning or losing may not be under my control. What was under my control was how I prepared myself and our team. I judged my success, my “winning,” on that. It just made more sense.

The locker rooms were clean when we departed because I asked the players to pick up after themselves. I believe this is just common courtesy. Somebody’s going to have to clean it up, and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be the person who messed it up.

It took me a long time to understand that even a stubborn mule responds to gentleness.

So often we fail to acknowledge what we have because we’re so concerned about what we want.

I am not what I ought to be, Not what I want to be, Not what I am going to be, But I am thankful that I am better than I used to be. It

Abraham Lincoln. He once said that the best thing a man can do for his children is to love their mother.

I also believe that things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

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

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

There is a wonderful, almost mystical, law of nature that says three of the things we want most—happiness, freedom, and peace of mind—are always attained when we give them to others.

It’s so easy to relax, to cut corners, to let down after you’ve reached your goal, and begin thinking you can just “turn it on” automatically, without proper preparation. It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you’re there.

You're just as good as anyone, but you're no better than anybody.

Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.

don’t worry much about trying to be better than someone else.

Always try to be the very best that you can be. Learn from others, yes. But don’t just try to be better than they are.

I’ve always believed that hustle can make up for a lot of mistakes.

Talent is God-given: be humble. Fame is man-given: be thankful. Conceit is self-given: be careful.

that things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.

Trusting is part of our higher nature. Doubting is a lower instinct. The latter is easy to do, the former more difficult—but so much more rewarding.

You never fail if you know in your heart that you did the best of which you are capable. I did my best. That is all I could do. Are you going to make mistakes? Of course. But it is not failure if you make the full effort.

Seven Things to Do.” It read as follows: 1. Be true to yourself. 2. Help others. 3. Make each day your masterpiece. 4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible. 5. Make friendship a fine art. 6. Build a shelter against a rainy day. 7. Pray for guidance and count and give thanks for your blessings every day.

I believe in the basics: attention to, and perfection of, tiny details that might be commonly overlooked. They may seem trivial, perhaps even laughable to those who don’t understand, but they aren’t. They are fundamental to your progress in basketball, business, and life. They are the difference between champions and near champions. For example, at the first squad meeting each season, held two weeks before our first actual practice, I personally demonstrated how I wanted players to put on their socks each and every time: Carefully roll the socks down over the toes, ball of the foot, arch and around the heel, then pull the sock up snug so there will be no wrinkles of any kind.

The smallest good dead is better than the best intention

will do the best I am capable of doing today to bring out my best tomorrow.

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

You must be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.

There is a choice you have to make, in everything you do. And you must always keep in mind the choice you make, makes you.

James Russell Lowell wrote: It’s not what we give but what we share, For the gift without the giver is bare. Who gives of himself of his alms feeds three, Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.

Characteristics of a Team Player We all fit into different niches. Each of us must make the effort to contribute to the best of our ability according to our own individual talents. And then we put all the individual talents together for the highest good of the group. Thus, I valued a player who cared for others and could lose himself in the group for the good of the group. I believe that quality makes for an outstanding player. It is also why the best players don’t always make the best team. I mean by this that a gifted player, or players, who are not team players will ultimately hurt the team, whether it revolves around basketball or business. Understanding that the good of the group comes first is fundamental to being a highly productive member of a team.

How hard you work at correcting your faults reveals your character.

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” It

Politeness and courtesy are a small price to pay for the goodwill of others.

Never believe you’re better than anybody else, but remember that you’re just as good as everybody else.

I told players at UCLA that we, as a team, are like a powerful car. Maybe a Bill Walton or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Michael Jordan is the big engine, but if one wheel is flat, we’re going no place. And if we have brand new tires but the lug nuts are missing, the wheels come off. What good is the powerful engine now? It’s no good at all.

A Successful Journey Is the Destination

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

Happiness is in many things. It’s in love. It’s in sharing. But most of all, it’s in being at peace with yourself knowing that you are making the effort, the full effort, to do what is right.

True happiness comes from the things that cannot be taken away from you. Making the full effort to do the right thing can never be taken away from you.

Each day my mother demonstrated great patience and the ability and eagerness to work very hard without complaint

Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. Youngsters need good models more than they need critics

Too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.

Never lie. Never cheat. Never steal.

Don’t whine. Don’t complain. Don’t make excuses.

Some people today may think these are naive or kind of corny. But think a moment about what they mean and who you become if you abide by them. That isn’t naive. You don’t become corny.

Four things a man must learn to do If he would make his life more true: To think without confusion clearly, To love his fellow-man sincerely, To act from honest motives purely, To trust in God and Heaven securely.

If we are not true to ourselves, we cannot be true to others—our wife or husband, our family, our profession and colleagues

You must know who you are and be true to who you are if you are going to be who you can and should become.

You cannot have a perfect day without helping others with no thought of getting something in return.

Don’t think you can make up for it by working twice as hard tomorrow. If you have it within your power to work twice as hard, why aren’t you doing it now?

It’s friendship when you do good things for each other. It’s showing concern and consideration.

Your faith, whatever it may be, is the greatest shelter of all.

How much more pleasant this world would be if we magnified our blessings the way we magnify our disappointments.

I am not what I ought to be, Not what I want to be, Not what I am going to be, But I am thankful that I am better than I used to be.

You never stop trying.

three of the things we want most—happiness, freedom, and peace of mind—are always attained when we give them to others.

Why can’t we realize that it only weakens those we want to help when we do things for them that they should do for themselves?

Why does the person with the least to say usually take the longest to say it?

there would be times when we disagreed but there would never be times when we had to be disagreeable.

what I say about leadership: “You must be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.

Your family is what counts, and you must always remember that as you get caught up in your own professional responsibilities.

I’m very proud of the fact that while all the records were being set at UCLA by our basketball teams, I felt exactly the same way. Family is first. Always. Always.

winning is not the point. Wanting to win is the point. Not giving up is the point. Never being satisfied with what you’ve done is the point. Never letting up is the point. Never letting anyone down is the point. Play to win. Sure. But lose like a champion. Because it’s not winning that counts. What counts is trying.

Commend, Don’t Criticize

I think parenting and coaching or teaching are the same thing. And they are the two most important professions in the world.

My Favorite Four-Letter Words: “Kids” and “Love

No written word nor spoken plea Can teach our youth what they should be. Nor all the books on all the shelves. It’s what the teachers are themselves.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Character is what you really are. Reputation is what people say you are.

Our teams at UCLA had four perfect seasons, but we never played a perfect game, never played as well as we could. That’s perfection. We didn’t reach perfection, but we constantly strove toward it.

you should learn as if you were going to live forever, and live as if you were going to die tomorrow.

when you start displaying courtesy, politeness, and consideration, people start displaying them right back.

Calvin Coolidge observed, “No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

You often find what you’re looking for.

The vast majority of Americans are good: the mothers and fathers, the working people, the children, the vast overwhelming majority—millions and millions and millions. A small, small percentage are otherwise. They get the attention. But we mustn’t forget the tremendous good we have within us as a people. I have a very positive opinion of America and our citizens. My opinion of the media and what they try to tell us about ourselves is perhaps not quite as high (although there, too, the majority of them are good and mean well). The media play up what’s wrong more than what’s right, and most of what we have is right. As we work to correct what is wrong, we must always keep in mind all the things that are right with America and Americans.

You and I must accept some accountability for future bloodshed if each and every day we don’t do something in our own way to alleviate prejudice in ourselves or others.

Now parents will say, “We’re just trying to make ends meet,” and they’re telling the truth. But if you think too much about the pursuit of material things, you’re going to hurt those youngsters you’re working so hard to buy material things for.

Eight Suggestions for Succeeding 1. Fear no opponent. Respect every opponent. 2. Remember, it’s the perfection of the smallest details that make big things happen. 3. Keep in mind that hustle makes up for many a mistake. 4. Be more interested in character than reputation. 5. Be quick, but don’t hurry. 6. Understand that the harder you work, the more luck you will have. 7. Know that valid self-analysis is crucial for improvement. 8. Remember that there is no substitute for hard work and careful planning. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Nothing Is Stronger than Gentleness