"You should never try to be better than someone else, always learn from others. Never cease trying to be the best you can be. That's under your control." John Wooden

Other highlights:

"Your reputation is what you're perceived to be; your character is what you really are."

"They ask me why I teach and I reply, 'Where could I find such splendid company?'

"I had blocks in the pyramid. And the cornerstones being industriousness and enthusiasm, working hard and enjoying what you're doing. Coming up to the apex. According to my definition of success. And right at the top -- faith and patience."

"There was a Major League Baseball umpire by the name of George Moriarty. He wrote something that I think he did while I tried to do in this pyramid. He called it "The Road Ahead, or The Road Behind." "Sometimes I think the Fates must grin as we denounce them and insist the only reason we can't win, is the Fates themselves that miss. Yet there lives on the ancient claim: we win or lose within ourselves. The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow's game. You and I know deeper down, there's always a chance to win the crown. But when we fail to give our best, we simply haven't met the test, of giving all and saving none until the game is really won. Of showing what is meant by grit. Of playing through when others quit. Of playing through, not letting up. It's bearing down that wins the cup. Of dreaming there's a goal ahead. Of hoping when our dreams are dead. Of praying when our hopes have fled. Yet losing, not afraid to fall, if bravely we have given all. For who can ask more of a man than giving all within his span. Giving all, it seems to me, is not so far from victory. And so the fates are seldom wrong, no matter how they twist and wind. It's you and I who make our fates -- we open up or close the gates on the road ahead or the road behind."

Reminds me of another set of threes that my dad tried to get across to us. Don't whine. Don't complain. Don't make excuses. Just get out there, and whatever you're doing, do it to the best of your ability. And no one can do more than that.

Cervantes. Cervantes said, "The journey is better than the end." And I like that. I think that is -- it's getting there. Sometimes when you get there, there's almost a letdown. But there's getting there that's the fun. I liked our -- as a basketball coach at UCLA I liked our practices to be the journey, and the game would be the end.