Passion is momentary; love is enduring.

“Passion is momentary; love is enduring.” – John Wooden

Thus spoke John Wooden, the wise coach and philosopher of the human spirit — a man who taught not only the game of basketball but the art of living well. In these few words, he captures a truth as old as time: that passion burns bright and fierce, but love endures through the calm and the storm alike. Passion is the fire that ignites; love is the hearth that sustains. Passion intoxicates, love steadies. Passion begins the journey, but only love carries it to the end.

When Wooden says, “Passion is momentary,” he reminds us that passion, though powerful, is fleeting by nature. It is the lightning flash that illuminates the night for an instant — beautiful, thrilling, but soon gone. Passion is born in impulse, in hunger, in the thrill of newness. It fuels beginnings but often falters under the weight of time. In contrast, “love is enduring” — a slower, deeper force. It is built not on fire but on faith. Love does not demand constant excitement; it survives through quiet devotion, through acts of patience, through the choice to remain when feeling fades. Where passion depends on desire, love depends on commitment.

The origin of this wisdom lies in Wooden’s own philosophy of life and leadership. Known as one of the greatest coaches in history, he believed that success was never achieved through bursts of emotion alone, but through steady character and enduring principles. He applied the same truth to love: that what lasts is not the thrill, but the trust. He understood that emotion, however intense, is not the foundation of greatness — discipline is. In matters of the heart as in the court of life, it is the enduring that outlives the momentary.

The ancients spoke this truth long before. Plato described passion as a winged madness — the soul aflame with beauty — yet he knew that it must be guided by wisdom or it consumes itself. Aristotle taught that true love, or philia, was the steady friendship between souls who wish good for one another, not merely pleasure or advantage. Even the mystics of old, from Rumi to Lao Tzu, saw love as a river — slow, deep, eternal — while passion was the foam that danced upon its surface. Passion may start the song, but love keeps the melody alive long after the first note fades.

Consider the story of Pierre and Marie Curie, united not only by attraction but by purpose. Their early partnership began in admiration and excitement, the spark of shared genius. Yet their love endured far beyond passion. Through poverty, danger, and the strain of their experiments, they remained bound not by emotion alone but by shared vision and sacrifice. When Pierre died, Marie carried on their work for decades, her love transmuted into memory, perseverance, and purpose. Their story is a testament that passion begins love — but love, enduring, outlives even death.

Wooden’s words also remind us of the difference between intensity and depth. Many chase relationships or dreams out of passion, seeking the thrill of feeling alive. But when difficulty comes — when the nights are long and the reward uncertain — passion alone is not enough. The true builder, the true lover, learns endurance. Love is not loud; it is steadfast. It is found not in great declarations, but in small, repeated acts of faith — the holding of a hand through illness, the forgiving of a flaw, the choosing to stay another day.

So, my listener, remember this ancient lesson: cherish passion, but cultivate love. Let passion awaken you, but let love sustain you. In every part of life — in work, in friendship, in devotion — begin with fire, but build with stone. Seek not the fleeting thrill that burns and fades, but the enduring warmth that lights the path for years. For passion is the sunrise — bright but brief — and love is the day that follows, patient and full of light.

And when time has passed, and the passions of youth have softened into the calm of wisdom, you will see what Wooden saw — that the greatest force in the world is not the flame that burns fast, but the one that never goes out. Passion lives for a moment; love lives forever.