A biography for John Woodenhasn’t been written yet.
“I met Tiger Woods when he was younger. He's amazing - obviously technically, but his mental approach, too. He's really something.”
“I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs.”
“Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”
“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.”
“You can do more good by being good than any other way.”
“Never lie, never cheat, never steal.”
“Today is the only day. Yesterday is gone.”
“Friendship is two-sided. It isn't a friend just because someone's doing something nice for you. That's a nice person. There's friendship when you do for each other. It's like marriage - it's two-sided.”
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
“I'd be satisfied just coaching in high school. I turned down a number of colleges when I was teaching in South Bend, Indiana, before I went into the service. I honestly believe that if I hadn't enlisted in the service, I would never have left high school teaching. I'm sure I would have never left.”
“It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
“I think permitting the game to become too physical takes away a little bit of the beauty.”
“Somebody asked me - you know, how come it took you so long to win a national championship? And I said, 'I'm a slow learner; but you notice when I learn something, I have it down pretty good.'”
“Passion is momentary; love is enduring.”
“I seldom was ever off my seat on the bench during the game.”
“If I were a young coach today, I would be extremely careful in selecting assistants.”
“Don't give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.”
“If there's anything you could point out where I was a little different, it was the fact that I never mentioned winning.”
“In the end, it's about the teaching, and what I always loved about coaching was the practices. Not the games, not the tournaments, not the alumni stuff. But teaching the players during practice was what coaching was all about to me.”
“I'm no wizard, and I don't like being thought of in that light at all. I think of a wizard as being some sort of magician or something, doing something on the sly or something, and I don't want to be thought of in that way.”