Timeless wisdom from a great man

John R. Wooden

October 14, 1910 -June 4, 2010

Hall-of-fame basketball player. Hall-of-fame coach. Winner of ten NCAA National Championships in twelve years.  More than that, a great man.

John Wooden's words of wisdom, from here and here:

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

Ability is a poor man's wealth.

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

Basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere.

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 prepared and be honest.

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

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

Don’t look at the scoreboard.

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

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

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

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

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

Make each day your masterpiece.

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.

Never mistake activity for achievement.

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.

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

The carrot is mightier than the stick.

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

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

The worst thing you can do for someone is to do something for them they can and should do for themselves.

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.

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

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.

Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness.

And a poem written for Coach Wooden by Swen Nater, one of his former players, in memory of his beloved wife Nell. Every month after her passing, Mr. Wooden would write a letter to Nell and leave it on her pillow. Once, when an author who wanted to write a book with Coach on how to make a marriage last arrived for their first session, Coach Wooden, tears streaming down his face, told him it was too soon.

She had been gone fifteen years.

"Yonder"

Once I was afraid of dying,
terrified of ever-lying,
petrified of leaving family, home and friends.

Thoughts of absence from my dear ones,
brought a melancholy tear once,
and a dreadful fear of when life ends.

But those days are long behind me,
fear of leaving does not bind me,
and departure does not hold a single care.

Peace does comfort as I ponder,
a reunion in the yonder,
with my dearest one who is waiting for me there.