John Wooden

Nobody is a real loser-until they start blaming somebody else.

I always stress condition with my basketball players. I don’t mean physical condition only. You cannot attain and maintain physical condition unless you are morally and mentally conditioned.

Once you become a good person, then you have a chance of becoming a good basketball player.

Surround yourself with people strong enough to change your mind.

If you spend too much time learning the 'tricks' of the trade, you may not learn the trade. There are no shortcuts. If you're working on finding a short cut, the easy way, you're not working hard enough on the fundamentals. You may get away with it for a spell, but there is no substitute for the basics. And the first basic is good, old fashioned hard work.

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

Everything we know, we learned from someone else!

When I was coaching I always considered myself a teacher. Teachers tend to follow the laws of learning better than coaches who do not have any teaching background. A coach is nothing more than a teacher. I used to encourage anyone who wanted to coach to get a degree in teaching so they could apply those principles to athletics.

Whatever you're doing, you must have patience.

Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it.

Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential.

Forget favors given; remember those received.

The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins, because doers make mistakes

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

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.

If you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things over which you have control.

You cannot attain and maintain physical condition unless you are morally and mentally conditioned. And it is impossible to be in moral condition unless you are spiritually conditioned. I always told my players that our team condition depended on two factors / how hard they worked on the floor during practice and how well they behaved between practices.

Good things take time, as they should. We shouldn't expect good things to happen overnight. Actually, getting something too easily or too soon can cheapen the outcome.

There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.

There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning.

I believe it’s impossible to claim you have taught, when there are students who have not learned. With that commitment, from my first year as an English teacher until my last as UCLA basketball teacher/coach, I was determined to make the effort to become the best teacher I could possibly be, not for my sake, but for all those who were placed under my supervision.