10 Quotes on Character from John Wooden
I’m your typical John Wooden fan. I try to dissect everything he’s written, and love reading and re-reading his stories. If you read what I write enough, this fact is obvious. I praise and quote John Wooden more than any other coaching legend.
However, he’s not just a coaching legend, he’s a proverb machine. “Wannabe” coaching gurus like me can’t get enough of quoting him over and over. With this in mind, to follow-up with my short post on what it means to raise a child with character, here are my 10 favorite quotes from John Wooden on character.
John Wooden Quotes on Character
1) Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Character is what you really are, reputation is what people say you are.
2) Character is how you react to things—sensibly, without getting carried away by yourself or your circumstances.
3) A person of character is trustworthy and honest, and for a dollar he or she will give you a dollar.
4) I like to think the players I coached, however they came to UCLA, left as men of character. But in truth, if they didn’t have it when they came, I couldn’t give it to them. By then it was too late. That’s a job for a mother and father.
5) A true athlete should have character, not be a character.
6) Some believe that sports build character. I believe that sports reveal character.
7) I believe ability can get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
8) A big part of character is the self-discipline needed to avoid complacency, resist temptation, and understand that past success doesn’t guarantee future success.
9) Having beliefs and standing up for them go to the issue of character. What kind of man has no creed, no beliefs? What kind has beliefs but won’t stand up for them? I wanted athletes who were strong on the outside and the inside.
10) It’s so easy to relax, to cut corners, to let down after you’ve reached your goal, and begin thinking you can just “turn it on” automatically, without proper preparation. It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you’re there.