77 Inspirational John Wooden Quotes For Business

John Wooden was a UCLA basketball coach, winning 10 championships in 12 years. The neatest thing about Mr. Wooden was that he thought that having a good character off court was as important as playing basketball well.

These are selected John Wooden business quotes that are particularly helpful for business people. It is amazing how relevant they are still today!

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Additional Resource: Inspirational, Resolution and Goal Setting Quotes | Goals Quotes

My All Time Favorite John Wooden Quote

Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.
John Wooden

Productivity Quotes

Well, if you're true to yourself you're going to be true to everyone else.
John Wooden

Never mistake activity for achievement.
John Wooden

It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
John Wooden

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
John Wooden

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

Don’t be afraid to fail. The greatest failure of all is not to act when action is needed.
John Wooden

Effort Quotes

Just try to be the best you can be; never cease trying to be the best you can be. That's in your power.
John Wooden

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.
John Wooden

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

The importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated. Repetition is the key to learning.
John Wooden

If you stay intent and your ability warrants it, you will eventually reach the top of the mountain.
― John Wooden

It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.
John Wooden

Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that.
John Wooden

You are not a failure until you start blaming others for your mistakes.
John Wooden

Remember, results aren't the criteria for success — it's the effort made for achievement that is most important.
John Wooden

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

Success Quotes

Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.
John Wooden

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

Mistakes come from doing, but so does success.
John Wooden

Succeeding is performing at your best when your best is required.
John Wooden

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

Never try to be better than somebody else. But most importantly, never cease trying to be the best you can be.
John Wooden

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
John Wooden

Never try to be better than anyone else, but never cease to be the best you can be. That’s achievement.
John Wooden

Success is peace of mind in knowing you did your best.
John Wooden

You can lose when you outscore somebody in a game. And you can win when you're outscored.
John Wooden

Never try to be better than someone else. Learn from others, and try to be the best you can be. Success is the by-product of that preparation.
John Wooden

Business Quotes

A mentor must always guide, never push. It was my job to listen to them, offer my perspective, and encourage them to pursue the ideals they believed to be true.
John Wooden

When opportunity knocks, it’s too late to prepare.
John Wooden

It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.
John Wooden

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who'll argue with you.
John Wooden

Players with fight never lose a game, they just run out of time.
John Wooden

Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read.
John Wooden

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

It is important for us to see that our mentors are human and therefore fallible; it makes our own shortcomings more tenable.
John Wooden

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

It’s always about focusing not on the mistakes but on the lessons learned from them.
John Wooden

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

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

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

I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.
John Wooden

Life Quotes

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

Be true to yourself. Make each day a masterpiece. Help others. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
John Wooden

Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.
John Wooden

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

Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.
John Wooden

All of life is peaks and valleys. Don't let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.
John Wooden

I think you have to be what you are. Don't try to be somebody else. You have to be yourself at all times.
John Wooden

Make every day your masterpiece.
John Wooden

Time Quotes

When you hurry you're more apt to make mistakes. But you have to be quick. If you're not quick you can't get things done.
John Wooden

Today is the only day. Yesterday is gone.
John Wooden

If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have the time to do it over?
John Wooden

Be quick, but don't hurry.
John Wooden

Character Quotes

You can’t live a perfect day until you do something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
John Wooden

The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.
John Wooden

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.
John Wooden

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
John Wooden

Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.
John Wooden

Earn the right to be proud and confident.
John Wooden

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
John Wooden

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

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.
John Wooden

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

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

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

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

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

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

It isn't about what you do, but how you do it.
John Wooden

Joy makes the longest journey too short.
John Wooden

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