Michael Jordan Quotes That Give Insight Into His Success

Over the course of his career, Michael Jordan became synonymous with basketball, the Chicago Bulls, and American sports as a whole. Drafted in 1984, by 1985 Jordan was an All-Star and well on his way to being considered the greatest basketball player to ever step on a court. He became a branding icon, with his iconic ‘Jumpman’ still being used by Nike for their Jordan branding today. Despite Jordan’s insane talent, controversy still followed his career, including an earlier retirement that he returned from, coinciding with his gambling issues coming to light. Upon returning to basketball with a chip on his shoulder, Michael Jordan quickly returned to dominating the NBA, winning six championships in his career.

Michael Jordan was known for playing with attitude and guts. Here are a few of his greatest quotes to make you think and motivate you.

10 Best Quotes From Michael Jordan

1. “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”
2. “I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.”
3. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
4. “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.”
5. “If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life”
6. “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.”
7. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”
8. “Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight.”
9. “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.”
10. “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.”

Inspirational Quotes From Jordan

• “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that’s why I succeed.”
• “Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others.”
• “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.”
• “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, 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.”

Leadership Quotes From Michael Jordan

• “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.”
• “Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher.”
• “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”
• “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”
• “I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent.”

Funny Quotes From Jordan

• “And I took that personally.”
• “In reality, I never want to grow up.”
• “I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.”
• “The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.”
• “There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there is in win.”

Team Attitude Quotes From Michael Jordan

• “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
• “I’ve never lost a game, I just ran out of time.”
• “If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you’ve lost your focus.”
• “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.”
• “Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.”

Success Quotes From Jordan

• “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.”
• “To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail.”
• “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.”
• “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.”
• “Winning isn’t always championships.”