Quote

Make no mistake, I always want to win, but I never fight with an opponent. My fight is within me it is the struggle to be the best I can be at whatever I do.

John Wooden

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John Wooden
Age: 99 †
Born: 1910
Born: October 14
Died: 2010
Died: May 26
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
Military Officer
Hall
Indiana
John Robert Wooden
Always
Struggle
Never
Mistake
Winning
Within
Fighting
Whatever
Opponent
Best
Opponents
Make
Fight

More quotes by John Wooden

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Working with others makes us much more than we could ever become alone
John Wooden
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Discipline yourself - so others don't have to.
John Wooden
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Discipline yourself, and others won't need to.
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Winning and losing aren't all they're cracked up to be, but the trip to the destination is.
John Wooden
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I am not as good as I ought to be. I am not as good as I want to be. I am not as good as I'm going to be. But I am thankful that I am better than I used to be.
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When you get to be 95, travel doesn't come as easily.
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Earlier in life, I put family in front of faith. I've fixed that. But I always tried to keep work fourth on the list. I was proud when [my wife] Nellie told an interviewer, 'I never could tell whether John had a good practice or a bad practice, because he never brought it home'
John Wooden
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Don't look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at time. That's the only way it happens-and when it happens, it lasts.
John Wooden
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If we, as coaches, aren't teachers, we are nothing
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How hard you work at correcting your faults reveals your character.
John Wooden
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Constantly be aware and observing. Always seek to improve yourself and the team.
John Wooden
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What it comes down to, I believe, is that mentoring often involves telling people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear. When you are able to be humbly honest with someone about a situation with which you have personal experience-even if you risk angering or hurting that person-you are offering the most valuable gift of all.
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There is no substitute for hard work. If you're looking for the easy way, if you're looking for the trick, you might get by for a while, but you will not be developing the talents that lie within you. There is simply no substitute for work.
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The true leader isn't really looking for leadership. He's trying to set an example and be in the proper way to get the most productive results and don't realize it. When the followers get something done, if the leader has been what he should, they'll feel like they did it, not him. That's the way it should be.
John Wooden
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You must be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way.
John Wooden
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Never complain about the officiating. It does no good. During the game I don't want to be fighting two opponents.
John Wooden
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Details create success.
John Wooden
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I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty.
John Wooden
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While you, the leader, can teach many things, character is not taught easily to adults who arrive at your desk lacking it. Be cautious about taking on reclamation projects regardless of the talent they may possess. Have the courage to make character count among the qualities you seek in others.
John Wooden
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We are many, but are we much?
John Wooden