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When you need John Wooden's lens on Perseverance, this is your reference library. Every quote is sourced and contextualized, giving you immediate access to their best thinking on the subject. Use this collection to inform decisions, challenge assumptions, or find clarity when Perseverance becomes complex. John Wooden's approach offers practical frameworks that ambitious professionals can apply without translation.
"Never mistake activity for achievement."
Source: Inspired by: TED Talk: The difference between winning and succeeding (2001)
"The best competition I have is against myself to become better."
"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
"Good things take time, as they should. We shouldn't expect quick results."
"The most important thing in the world is family and love."
"Stubbornness we look upon as a negative; tenacity we look upon as a positive."
"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."
"The man who is afraid to risk failure will never taste the joy of true success."
"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 not what I used to be."
"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."
"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
Source: Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to."
"There is no substitute for hard work. If you're looking for the easy way, you're looking for the wrong way."
"The road to real achievement is usually bumpy and long."
"Be prepared and be honest."
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."
Source: Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
"Little things make big things happen."
"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."
"Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life."
Source: Speech: TED Talk - The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
"Persistence is stronger than failure."
"Make each day your masterpiece."
"Character is the only thing we'll take with us into the next world."
Source: Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"It takes time to create anything of value."
"You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."
Source: Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
"Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free from admirers then."
"Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius."
Source: Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"Flexibility is the key to stability."
"Success is a journey, not a destination."
Source: Speech: TED Talk - The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding
"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
"You must be willing to accept that you will fail sometimes."
Seeing how John Wooden approaches Perseverance helps you apply the idea with more precision.
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