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 “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” - John Wooden “Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.” - 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 “You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.” - John Wooden “Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” - John Wooden “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” -John Wooden “People make mistakes all the time. We learn and grow. If there’s patience and love, and you care for people, you can work them through it, and they can find their greatest heights.” - Pete Carroll “Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.” - Mahatma Gandhi “Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.” - Lao Tzu “Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.” - Pete Carroll “If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards. Show class, have pride, and display character.” - Bear Bryant “You get up every day, you’re entitled to nothing. Nobody owes you nothing. You could have talent, but if you don’t have discipline, if you don’t execute, you don’t focus, you get nothing. If you’re complacent, and not paying attention to detail, what does that get you? Nothing.” - Nick Saban “Everyone must choose one of two paths: The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” - Jim Rohn “No amount of anxiety makes any difference ‘o anything that is going to happen.” - Alan Watts “No man is free who cannot control himself.” - Pythagoras “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” - Seneca “Almost nothing material is needed for a happy life.” - Marcus Aurelius “Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.” - Mark Twain “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.” -Jim Valvano “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.” - John Wooden “There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either IN or you’re OUT. There is no such thing as life in-between.” - Pat Riley “The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.” - Joe Paterno “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” - Tom Landry “What do do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it” - Dean Smith “To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” - Picabo Street “Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time. Lou Brock Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” - Ted Williams “You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave–win or lose.” - Gordie Howe “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” - Mike Singletary “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” - Lou Holtz “You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation.” - Homer Rice “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.” - Arthur Ashe “Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you.” - Eddie Robinson “During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.” - Mickey Mantle “One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” - Pele “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” - Mary Lou Retton “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” - Mark Spitz “Champions keep playing until they get it right” - Billie Jean King “Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” - Laird Hamilton “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination” - Tommy Lasorda “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” - Paul "Bear" Bryant “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” - Bo Jackson “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” - Matt Bondi “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” - Knute Rockne “Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course—the distance between your ears.” - Bobby Jones “I’m about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That’s the distance my left ear is from my right.” - Ben Crenshaw “When the world says, Give up, Hope whispers, Try it one more time.” - Author Unknown “Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.” - Dale Carnegie “Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” - Author Unknown “My job is to call attention to the things that I think are the difference between winning and losing. If I can’t do that, then I have failed as a coach.” - Bill Parcells “Failure is the only option, if success is the end goal.” - Larry Weinzimmer and Jim McConoughey “I don’t do things HALF-HEARTEDLY. I know that if I do, then I can expect HALF-HEARTED results.” - Michael Jordan “One man can make a difference. But a team can make a miracle!” - Doug Pederson “Always let grace have the last word. We’ll only lose the arguments our pride insists on winning.” - Bob Goff “Courage doesn’t mean we’re not afraid anymore. It just means our actions aren’t controlled by our doubts.” - Bob Goff “Everybody wants to make a difference in the world; only a few people want to be different than the world.” - Bob Goff “No one expects us to love them flawlessly, but we can love them fearlessly, ferociously, and unreasonably.” - Bob Goff “Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.” - Bob Goff “You don’t need to take all the steps, just the next one.” - Bob Goff “God doesn’t give people influence so they can lead others better; he does it so they can love people more.” - Bob Goff “Losers are people whose words are bigger than their actions. Winners are people whose actions are bigger than their words.” - Unknown “You win in life with people. And I’ve had a lot of great people in my life.” - Pat Summitt “Great works, and great folly are sometimes indistinguishable at the outset.” - NASA Mars Rover (Curiousity) Team Leader “Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Weak minds discuss people.” - Socrates “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” - Napoleon Hill “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” - Henry Ford “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” - C.S. Lewis “We can count how many seeds are in the apple. But not how many apples are in the seed.” - Ken Kesey “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” - Henry Ford Coaching Matters • Bookshelf • Resources Quotes • What Students Say • FAQ