john wooden, champion ncaa basketball coach for UCLA, addresses success and winning through a poem by george moriarty

the road ahead or the road behind - george moriarty

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 no one 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