All credit of this article goes to Pat Williams and
his book, Coach Wooden. He breaks down
Coach Wooden’s seven-point creed that was given to him by his father when he
graduated from elementary school. Many attribute a large part of his
success to this creed and his ability to live it out daily.
The 4th creed is ‘Make Friendship a Fine Art.’ Below are quotes and passages from that 3rd
creed.
- You can read about the 1st creed, 'be true to
yourself,' here.
- You can read about the 2nd creed, ‘help others,’ here.
- You can read about 3rd creed, 'Drink deeply from here.
- You can read about the 2nd creed, ‘help others,’ here.
- You can read about 3rd creed, 'Drink deeply from here.
Someone is not a good friend because he or she does good things
for you all the time. It’s friendship
when you do good things for each other.
It’s showing concern and consideration … The first and most important
step in friendship is being a friend.
- John Wooden
- John Wooden
Friendship is like a good marriage – it’s based on common
concern. Friends help each other; they
don’t use each other … If we use our friends to advance a personal agenda, we’ll
never have inner peace. Friends help to
complete us, and we’ll be better for having taken them along on our journey.
Friendship is a matter of give-and-take. If you only give or only take, the
relationship becomes unbalanced and out of bounds. The fine art of friendship is not a one-way
street. Good friends know how to go
through tough times together. They know
how to give and how to receive.
- Swen Nater; former UCLA center
- Swen Nater; former UCLA center
Genuine, meaningful friendship is rare. To be a genuine friend, demonstrate a genuine
interest in the things that interest your friends by becoming interested in
other people than by trying to interest other people yourself.
- Dale Carnegie
- Dale Carnegie
Coach Wooden is a role model of genuine friendship. A big part of it show well Coach listens to
people. He asks probing questions and
gets people to talk about what’s really going on in their lives. He’s a great listener. Coach has taught me so much about friendship.
- Mark Gottfried
- Mark Gottfried
A good friend makes others feel important. Coach Wooden always finds ways to let others
know they matter to him. Let people know
they are important to you, and you will build important friendships.
“Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
- Albert Camus
To be a true friend, show that you care. Be there for your friends when they need
you. Celebrate the joys and triumphs in
lives of your friends. Share you friends’
struggles when they hurt. As Oprah
Winfrey once said, “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what
you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”
Andy Hill told me, “Coach Wooden was focused on character
development. He talked about the
importance of choosing your friends wisely and making sure you have friends who
care enough to challenge you and ask you the tough questions: Are you working
on becoming more patient and self-controlled?
Are you overcoming bad habits?
Are you being honest with yourself?
Bad friends tear you down. Good
friends build you up. People who are
focused on continuous improvement want to have good friends in their lives,
holding them accountable for their character growth.
- Nell Wooden to her husband John
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