Quotes by Michael Jordan

"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."

"I wasn't really a work conscious type of person."

"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come."

"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."

"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 hope the millions of people I've touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude."

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

"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."

"Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation."

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

"The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are."

"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."

"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."

"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 is why I succeed."

"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."

"When I 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."

"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."

"It's a 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 and provide entertainment for everyone who wanted to watch basketball. Obviously, people may not agree with that; again, I can't live with what everyone's impression of what I should or what I shouldn't do."

"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."

"The game of basketball has been everything to me. My place of refuge, place I've always gone where I needed comfort and peace. It's been the site of intense pain and the most intense feelings of joy and satisfaction. It's a relationship that has evolved over time, given me the greatest respect and love for the game."

"When I was playing before I retired, I never really understood the appreciation and the respect that people gave me. People had treated me like a god or something, and that was very embarrassing."

"Gambling is legal and betting is legal, for what I bet."

"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."

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

"I can't speak for the future. I have no crystal ball."

"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."

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

"I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal."

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

"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."

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

"When I was young, I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals."

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

"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."

"Limits, like fear, is often an illusion."

"Ultimately, if you can say that I'm a bad owner and we're winning championships, I can live with that. But if we're not making the playoffs and we're spending and losing money, then I have to look in the mirror and say maybe I'm not taking the necessary steps to doing what it takes to run an organization."

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

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

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

"There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either."