In 1948, I began coaching basketball at UCLA. Each hour of practice we worked very hard. Each day we worked very hard. Each week we worked very hard. Each season we worked very hard. Four fourteen years we worked very hard and didn't win a national championship. However, a national championship was won in the fifteenth year. Another in the sixteenth. And eight more in the following ten years.

Always think of passing the ball before shooting it.

If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.

Mix idealism with realism and add hard work. This will often bring much more than you could ever hope for.

Place the team above yourself always.

It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.

The goal in life is the same as in basketball: make the effort to do the best you are capable of doing--in marriage, at your job, in the community, for your country. Make the effort to contribute in whatever way you can. You may do it materially or with time, ideas, or work. Making the effort to contribute is what counts. The effort is what counts in everything.