Michael Jordan Quotes

"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's precisely why I succeed."

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."

"To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate."

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."

"There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

"My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength."

"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results."

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” 

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.” 

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.” 

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” 

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” 

“My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.” 

“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” 

“To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate.” 

“If you quit ONCE it becomes a habit. Never quit!!!” 

“I've never lost a game I just ran out of time.” 

“Make It Happen” 

“To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail.” 

“Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.” 

“Don't let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.” 

“Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.” 

“I own the guy guarding me” 

“Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.” 

“I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that am why I succeed.” 

“If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.” 

“The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether its proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.” 

“Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” 

“What is love? Love is playing every game as if it's your last!” 

“The key to success is failure” 

“My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind.” 

“I realize I’m black, but I’d like to be viewed as a person, and that is everybody’s wish.” 

“Failure is acceptable but not trying is a whole different ball park.” 

“The basketball court for me, during a game, is the most peaceful place I can imagine. On the basketball court, I worry about nothing. When I'm out there, no one can bother me...” 

“As athletes, we're used to reacting quickly. Here, it's 'come, stop, come, and stop.' There's a lot of downtime. That's the toughest part of the day. ” 

“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” 

“There is no "I" in team but there is in win.” 

“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game.” 

“I failed so therefore I succeed.” 

“Learning’s a gift, even when "pain” is your teacher!” 

Over and over and over again in my life... and that is why I succeed”

“Every time I feel tired while I am exercising and training, I close my eyes to see that picture, to see that list with my name. This usually motivates me to work again.” 

“If nobody will help you, do it alone! There is no 'i' in team, but there is '1' in WIN!” 

“I have failed many times, and that's why I am a success.” 

“Some people wish it would happen, some people want it to happen, others make it happen” 

“There is no "I" in team.” 

“The best come from the worst” 

“I can accept failure but I can't accept not trying!” 

“I failed over and over and over and that is why I succeed.” 

“Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. 

“Not every flying hero has a cape.” 

“ I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.”

“My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.”

I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot… when you think about the consequences you always think of negative result.”

I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.”

 “To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don’t isolate.”

“If you quit ONCE it becomes a habit. Never quit!!!”

“Make It Happen”

“To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail.”

Don’t let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.”

 “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”

“Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.”

“I’ve never lost a game I just ran out of time.”

 “I own the guy guarding me”

“Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.”

“The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether its proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.”

“If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.”

“ I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

“Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”

“What is love? Love is playing every game as if it’s your last!”

“The key to success is failure”

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

“I realize I'm black, but id like to be viewed as a person, and that is everybody wish.”

“Failure is acceptable. but not trying is a whole different ball park.”

 “As athletes, we’re used to reacting quickly. Here, it’s ‘come, stop, come, stop.’ There’s a lot of downtime. 

That’s the toughest part of the day. ”

“The basketball court for me, during a game, is the most peaceful place I can imagine. On the basketball court, I worry about nothing. When I’m out there, no one can bother me…”

“There is no “I” in team but there is in win.”

“ I've failed over and over and over again in my life… and that am why I succeed

“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game.”

“I failed so therefore I succeed.”

“He fallado una y otra vez en mi vida, por eso he conseguido el éxito.”

“Every time I feel tired while I am exercising and training, I close my eyes to see that picture, to see that list with my name. This usually motivates me to work again.”

Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.

I never thought a role model should be negative.

I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.

If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.

My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline.

My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes.

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.

There is no “I” in team but there is in win.

“There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual

Goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest

Is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades

Will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and

Intelligence wins championships.”

“I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it is an illusion to me. Failure always made me try harder next time”

“People ask me if I could fly, I said, “yeah…. for a little while”

“It’s heavy duty to try to do everything and please everybody . . . My job was to go out there and play the game of basketball as best I can, … People may not agree with that . . . I can’t live with what everyone’s impression of what I should or what I shouldn't do.”

“[The city told him it was not their responsibility] even though it’s their property, … They said, if you want it done, do it yourself.”

“But my drive to win is so great … I just step over that line. … It’s very embarrassing, … one of the things you totally regret. So you look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I was stupid.”

“If it turns out that my best wasn't good enough, at least I won’t look back and say that I was afraid to try.”

[Jordan, 42, said he could still make a contribution to an NBA team.] Even though, physically, I can’t do it, the mind says, ‘Yeah, I can still do it,’ and I still think I can do it better than most in the NBA, Driven from within.”

“The good part about being famous is being able to help people. The hard part is every day you have to be in a good mood, because that is what people expect. You learn to get good at it.”

“I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it.”

Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That’s truly about the game, and in some ways that’s about life too.

Heart is what separates the good from the great.

“Failure makes me work even harder.”

“I would tell players to relax and never think about what’s at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you've lost your focus.”

“There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

You can practice shooting eight hours a day, but if your technique is wrong, then all you become is very good at shooting the wrong way. Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will raise.”

“Success isn't something you chase. It is something you have to put forth the effort for constantly; then maybe it’ll come when you least expect it.”

“When I step onto the court, I don’t have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It’s like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems.”

Live the moment for the moment

As athletes, we’re used to reacting quickly. Here, it’s ‘come, stop, come, stop.’ There’s a lot of downtime. That’s the toughest part of the day.”