Greatest Michael Jordan Quotes of All Time

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

“I mean we all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others.”

“Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.”

“Best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are.”

“Winning isn’t always championships.”

“Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight.”

“I want to wake up every day and do whatever comes to mind, and not feel pressure or obligations to do anything else in my life.”

 “I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.”

“If I had been playing for money I would have complained a long time ago that I was underpaid.”

“Being Michael Jordan means acting the same as I always have.”

“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.”

“Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight.”

“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.”

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

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

“My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said you never know what you can accomplish until you try.”

“I want to be the bridge to the next generation.”

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

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

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

“When I will lose the sense of motivation and the sense to prove something as a basketball player, it’s time for me to move away from the game.”

“In reality, I never want to grow up.”

“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 yourself.”

 “In college, I never realized the opportunities available to a pro athlete. I’ve been given the chance to meet all kinds of people, to travel and expand my financial capabilities, to get ideas and learn about life, to create a world apart from basketball.”

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

“Make it happen”

“I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.”

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

“I can’t speak for the future. I have no crystal ball.”

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

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

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

“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 everyone’s impression of what I should or what I shouldn’t do.”

“In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money.”

“For a competitive junkie like me, golf is a great solution because it smacks you in the face every time you think you’ve accomplished something. That to me has taken over a lot of the energy and competitiveness for basketball.”

“My challenge when I came back was to face the young talent, to dissect their games, and show them maybe that they needed to learn more about the game than just the money aspect.”

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

“I know the signs of sacredness.”

“It’s absolutely wrong that I don’t want guys to challenge me. And the people who say that aren’t in the room.”

“Live the moment for the moment.”

“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 yourself.”

 “Champions do not become champions when they win an event, but in the hours, weeks, and months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely a demonstration of their championship character.”

“You can practice shooting 8 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 rise.”

“I own the guy guarding me.”

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

“The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can’t let yourself be beat because of lack of effort.”

“There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, & I don’t believe there is only one greatest player either.”

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

“Learning is a gift, even when “pain” is your teacher!.”

“It is easy to choose a path of anonymity and lead an empty life.  But to strive hard and lead an impactful life, one needs a burning desire to realize dreams.”  , Michael Jordan quotes about dreams

“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’m retired 99.9%. Of course, there always is that 0.1%.”

“I set another goal … a reasonable, manageable goal that I could realistically achieve if I worked hard enough. I approached everything step by step.”

 “It’s better to shoot and miss, then to let time run out and wonder what if.”

“I hope the millions of people I’ve touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and perseverance with a positive attitude.”

“How many times have your parents told you not to do things, and the next thing you know, you go do it? And you realized you shouldn’t have done it.”

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

“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.”

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

“You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.”

“The key to success is failure.”

“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.”

 “Anything can happen if you are willing to put in the work and remain open to the possibility. Dreams are realized by effort, determination, passion and staying connected to that sense of who you are.”

“The reason I became such a successful athlete was because my mind was saying that no matter who you put up against me, I am better, I am the best.”

“They don’t need a ticket to watch you sitting on a bench. They can go to your house for that.”

“My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline.”

“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 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.”

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

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

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

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

“Do I need my number retired throughout the course of the league to acknowledge what I’ve done? No.”

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

 “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.”

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

“I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loves challenges.”

“I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent.”

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

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

“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.”

“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.”

“Failure is acceptable. But not trying is a whole different ballpark.”

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

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

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

“My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline.”

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

“Heart is what separates the good from the great.”

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

“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.”

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

“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.” 

“If we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.”

“I never feared about my skills because I put in the work. Work ethic eliminates fear. So if you put forth the work, what are you fearing? You know what you’re capable of doing and what you’re not.”

“Another day, another opportunity to prove everyone who doubts you wrong.”

“The best comes from the worst.”