Unleashing Greatness: The Ultimate Collection of Kobe Bryant's Inspirational Quotes

"When we are saying this cannot be accomplished, this cannot be done, then we are short-changing ourselves. My brain, it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I have to sit there and face myself and tell myself, 'You are a failure,' I think that is almost worse than dying."

- Kobe Bryant

"I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan; I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

- Kobe Bryant

"Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep on rolling."

- Kobe Bryant

"When you make a choice and say, 'Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,' then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that … when that moment comes, of course, it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time."

- Kobe Bryant

"Those times when you get up early, and you work hard, those times when you stay up late, and you work hard, those times when you don't feel like working, you're too tired, you don't want to push yourself, but you do it anyway. That is actually the dream. That's the dream. It's not the destination; it's the journey. And if you guys can understand that, then what you'll see happen is you won't accomplish your dreams; your dreams won't come true; something greater will."

- Kobe Bryant

"The most important thing is you must put everybody on notice that you’re here and you are for real."

- Kobe Bryant

"I've practiced and practiced and played so many times. There's nothing truly to be afraid of when you think about it. … I've failed before, and I woke up the next morning, and I'm OK."

- Kobe Bryant

"I never looked at [basketball] as work. I didn't realize it was work until my first year in the NBA. When I came around, I was surrounded by other professionals, and I thought basketball was going to be everything to them, and it wasn't. And I was like, 'This is different.' I thought everybody was so obsessive about the game like me. It was like, 'No? Oh, that's hard work. I get it now.' "

- Kobe Bryant

"Leadership is lonely ... I'm not going to be afraid of confrontation to get us to where we need to go. There's a big misconception where people thinking winning or success comes from everybody putting their arms around each other and singing kumbaya and patting them on the back when they mess up, and that's just not reality. If you are going to be a leader, you are not going to please everybody. You have to hold people accountable. Even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable."

- Kobe Bryant

"I would go 0-30 before I would go 0-9. 0-9 means you beat yourself, you psyched yourself out of the game."

- Kobe Bryant

"The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do."

- Kobe Bryant

"You are responsible for how people remember you — or don’t."

- Kobe Bryant

"I don't negotiate with myself."

- Kobe Bryant

"Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue, you will change."

- Kobe Bryant

"I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have [a] fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena, and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it. You rise above it."

- Kobe Bryant

"Everything negative -- pressure, challenges -- is all an opportunity for me to rise."

- Kobe Bryant

"I create my own path. It was straight and narrow. I looked at it this way: you were either in my way, or out of it."

- Kobe Bryant

"Be authentic, and let them like you or not for who you actually are."

- Kobe Bryant

"My brain . . . it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, ‘You’re a failure’ . . . I think that’s almost worse than death."

- Kobe Bryant

"I realized that intimidation didn’t really exist if you’re in the right frame of mind."

- Kobe Bryant

"We can always kind of be average and do what’s normal. I’m not in this to do what’s normal."

- Kobe Bryant

"Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones."

- Kobe Bryant

"We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it."

- Kobe Bryant

"Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose."

- Kobe Bryant

"Failure doesn't exist."

- Kobe Bryant

"If you love what you do and it’s making you happy, all the hard work and perserverance will pay off."

- Kobe Bryant

"I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

- Kobe Bryant

"It’s not the destination. It’s the journey."

- Kobe Bryant

"I’m extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges. It’s not a challenge to me to win the scoring title, because I know I can."

- Kobe Bryant

"Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almosts."

- Kobe Bryant

"In order to get to a certain level, you have to have a certain amount of selfishness."

- Kobe Bryant

"No matter what, people are going to like you or not like you. So be authentic, and let them like you or not for who you actually are."

- Kobe Bryant

"The important thing is that your teammates have to know you're pulling for them and you really want them to be successful."

- Kobe Bryant

"Be sad. Be mad. Be frustrated. Scream. Cry. Sulk."

- Kobe Bryant

"I realized that intimidation didn't really exist if you're in the right frame of mind."

- Kobe Bryant

"Leadership is lonely."

- Kobe Bryant

"If you want to be the greatest of all time at something, there’s going to be a negative side to that."

- Kobe Bryant

"I want to learn how to become the best basketball player in the world. And if I'm going to learn that, I gotta learn from the best."

- Kobe Bryant

"I want to learn how to become the best basketball player in the world. And if I'm going to learn that, I gotta learn from the best. Kids go to school to be doctors or lawyers, [and] so forth and so on, and that's where they study. My place to study is from the best."

- Kobe Bryant

"I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I know all the hard work that it took to get to this point."

- Kobe Bryant

"I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success."

- Kobe Bryant

"May you always remember to enjoy the road, especially when it’s a hard one."

- Kobe Bryant

"My parents are my backbone. Still are. They’re the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40."

- Kobe Bryant

"Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses."

- Kobe Bryant

"Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success."

- Kobe Bryant

"Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change."

- Kobe Bryant

"I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

- Kobe Bryant

"When we are saying this cannot be accomplished, this cannot be done, then we are short-changing ourselves. My brain—it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I have to sit there and face myself and tell myself ‘You are a failure,’ I think that is almost worse than dying."

- Kobe Bryant

"If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail."

- Kobe Bryant

"After all, greatness is not for everybody."

- Kobe Bryant

"When I look up in the crowd, and I see all the USA flags waving and people chanting USA, it gives you goosebumps"

- Kobe Bryant

"It’s the one thing you can control. You are responsible for how people remember you—or don’t. So don’t take it lightly."

- Kobe Bryant

"Have a good time. Enjoy life."

- Kobe Bryant

"Get over yourself. 'Cause it's not about you, man."

- Kobe Bryant

"You don't want to jump into something if you're not passionate about it."

- Kobe Bryant

"Appreciate it now. Let it sit in now because revenge is sweet and it's quick."

- Kobe Bryant

"Friends can come and go, but banners hang forever."

- Kobe Bryant

"We psyche ourselves up too much. Like, if you try to talk yourself into, 'Oh, this is a big moment, this is a big shot,' you're putting a lot of pressure on yourself. You shot that shot hundreds and thousands of times. Just shoot another one."

- Kobe Bryant

"The last time I was intimidated was when I was 6 years old in karate class. I was an orange belt, and the instructor ordered me to fight a black belt who was a couple years older and a lot bigger. I was scared s---less. I mean, I was terrified, and he kicked my ass. But then I realized he didn't kick my ass as bad as I thought he was going to and that there was nothing really to be afraid of. That was around the time I realized that intimidation didn't really exist if you're in the right frame of mind."

- Kobe Bryant

"I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you."

- Kobe Bryant

"When I have the chance to guard Michael Jordan, I want to guard him. I want him. It’s the ultimate challenge."

- Kobe Bryant

"Leadership is lonely. I’m not going to be afraid of confrontation to get us to where we need to go."

- Kobe Bryant

"I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I know all the hard work that it took to get to this point. So, I’m not, I’m not sad about [retiring]. I’m very appreciative of what I’ve had."

- Kobe Bryant

"We psych ourselves up too much. Like if you try to talk yourself into, ‘Oh, this is a big moment, this is a big shot,’ you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself. You shot that shot hundreds and thousands of times. Just shoot another one."

- Kobe Bryant

"There’s a big misconception where people thinking winning or success comes from everybody putting their arms around each other and singing kumbaya and patting them on the back when they mess up, and that’s just not reality. If you are going to be a leader, you are not going to please everybody. You have to hold people accountable. Even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable."

- Kobe Bryant

"There’s nothing truly to be afraid of, when you think about it, because I’ve failed before, and I woke up the next morning, and I’m OK."

- Kobe Bryant

"A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord."

- Kobe Bryant

"Use your success, wealth, and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose."

- Kobe Bryant

"Losing is losing. There aren’t different degrees of losing. You either win a championship or you’re shit. It’s very black and white to me."

- Kobe Bryant

"I had to organize things. So I created the ‘Black Mamba’. So Kobe has to deal with these issues, all the personal challenges. The Black Mamba steps on the court and does what he does. I’m destroying everybody that steps on the court."

- Kobe Bryant

"I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you."

- Kobe Bryant

"I never needed any external forces to motivate me."

- Kobe Bryant

"Setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache."

- Kobe Bryant

"The beauty of coaching is growing the players from the ground up. That journey continues."

- Kobe Bryant

"I’ve shot too much from the time I was eight years old. But ’too much’ is a matter of perspective. Some people thought Mozart had too many notes in his compositions. Let me put it this way: I entertain people who say I shoot too much. I find it very interesting. Going back to Mozart, he responded to critics by saying there were neither too many notes or too few. There were as many as necessary."

- Kobe Bryant

"I’ve shot too much from the time I was 8 years old. But ‘too much’ is a matter of perspective. Some people thought Mozart had too many notes in his compositions. Let me put it this way: I entertain people who say I shoot too much. I find it very interesting. Going back to Mozart, he responded to critics by saying there were neither too many notes or too few. There were as many as necessary."

- Kobe Bryant

"These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess."

- Kobe Bryant

"If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear."

- Kobe Bryant

"You guys know how I am. I don’t forget anything"

- Kobe Bryant

"Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache."

- Kobe Bryant

"Mamba out"

- Kobe Bryant

"I don’t f**k with bees, man. Other than that, I’m not afraid of nothing."

- Kobe Bryant

"Dear Basketball..."

- Kobe Bryant

"The moment you give up, is the moment you let someone else win."

"I saw you come in and I wanted you to know that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, that I’m willing to work harder than you."

"Dedication makes dreams come true."