"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."
- Michael Jordan
Failure
"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
- Michael Jordan
Motivation
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Overcoming Obstacles
"I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."
- Michael Jordan
Failure
"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."
- Michael Jordan
Ambition
"If you quit once, it becomes a habit. Never quit!"
- Michael Jordan
Perseverance
"You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them."
- Michael Jordan
Belief in Self
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Overcoming Obstacles
"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come."
- Michael Jordan
Hard Work
"Limits, like fear, is often an illusion."
- Michael Jordan
Facing Fears
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Strength
"I've never been afraid to fail."
- Michael Jordan
Courage
"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."
- Michael Jordan
Belief in Self
"If you do the work, you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life."
- Michael Jordan
Hard Work
"Heart is what separates the good from the great."
- Michael Jordan
Motivation
"Failure makes me work even harder."
- Michael Jordan
Resilience
"The key to success is failure."
- Michael Jordan
Failure
"I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it is an illusion to me. Failure always made me try harder next time."
- Michael Jordan
Courage
"To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail."
- Michael Jordan
Growth
"Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion."
- Michael Jordan
Belief
"Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work."
- Michael Jordan
Hard Work
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Courage
"Failure is acceptable. but not trying is a whole different ball park."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation."
- Michael Jordan
Positivity
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Empowerment
"One day, you might look up and see me playing the game at 50. Don't laugh. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion."
- Michael Jordan
Ambition
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Determination
"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.'"
- Michael Jordan
Aspirations
"If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome."
- Michael Jordan
Belief in Self
"Learning is a gift, even when pain is your teacher."
- Michael Jordan
Learning
"Make It Happen."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"Learning's a gift, even when pain is your teacher!"
- Michael Jordan
Learning
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Ambition
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Success
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Courage
"I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result."
- Michael Jordan
Focus
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Ambition
"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."
- Michael Jordan
Teamwork
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Integrity
"Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night."
- Michael Jordan
Persistence
"I've never lost a game, I just ran out of time."
- Michael Jordan
Positivity
"Don't let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Love
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you're in a fight."
- Michael Jordan
Adversity
"Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"What is love? Love is playing every game as if it's your last!"
- Michael Jordan
Motivation
"Enjoy every minute of life. Never second-guess life."
- Michael Jordan
Joy
"I'm not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat."
- Michael Jordan
Hard Work
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Learning
"I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era."
- Michael Jordan
Growth
"I want to be the bridge to the next generation."
- Michael Jordan
Contribution
"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."
- Michael Jordan
Happiness
"We all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others."
- Michael Jordan
Personal Growth
"I Own the guy guarding me"
- Michael Jordan
Self-confidence
"I will not quit this game because of what the media has done to me."
- Michael Jordan
Resilience
"Live the moment for the moment."
- Michael Jordan
Presence
"I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else's talent."
- Michael Jordan
Gratitude
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Growth
"Winning isn't always championships."
- Michael Jordan
Success
"I never thought a role model should be negative."
- Michael Jordan
Integrity
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Connection to Earth
"The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"There is no 'i' in team but there is in win."
- Michael Jordan
Teamwork
"There is no 'I' in 'team,' but there is in 'win.'"
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"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..."
- Michael Jordan
Inner Peace
"My challenge when I came back was to face the young talent, dissect their games, and show them maybe that they needed to learn more about the game than just the money aspect."
- Michael Jordan
Leadership
"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 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."
- Michael Jordan
Self-esteem
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Liberation
"I think the players win the championship, and the organization has something to do with it, don't get me wrong. But don't try to put the organization above the players."
- Michael Jordan
Teamwork
"The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are."
- Michael Jordan
Insight
"There's only one Michael Jordan."
- Michael Jordan
Self-confidence
"There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either."
- Michael Jordan
Philosophy
"My heroes are and were my parents. I can't see having anyone else as my heroes."
- Michael Jordan
Family
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Self-awareness
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"I know the signs of scaredness."
- Michael Jordan
Awareness
"Even when I'm old and gray, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game."
- Michael Jordan
Love
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Service
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Adaptation
"In reality, I never want to grow up."
- Michael Jordan
Joy
"I realize I'm black, but id like to be viewed as a person, and that is everybody's wish."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"I want to play for years."
- Michael Jordan
Motivation
"I'm patient."
- Michael Jordan
Perseverance
"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."
- Michael Jordan
Wisdom
"In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money."
- Michael Jordan
Balance
"I won't have any competitive instincts in any sports, other than golf. I can't see being competitive in sports any more."
- Michael Jordan
Inspiration
"I can't speak for the future. I have no crystal ball."
- Michael Jordan
Wisdom
"It is nerve-wracking watching my kids' games."
- Michael Jordan
Family
"I'm not a Twitterer, I'm not a twerker, I'm not a Facebooker, I'm not nothing. I'm old school."
- Michael Jordan
Integrity