Michael Jordan, the legendary basketball player, transcends the sport with his words of wisdom applicable to various aspects of life. Michael Jordan’s motivational quotes inspire people to push their limits, embrace challenges and strive for greatness through hard work and unwavering belief in themselves.
Michael Jordan Motivational Quotes
1. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six 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
2. “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”
— Michael Jordan
3. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
— Michael Jordan
4. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
— Michael Jordan
5. “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”
— Michael Jordan
6. “To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail.”
— Michael Jordan
7. “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.”
— Michael Jordan
8. “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
9. “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
10. “I play to win, whether during practice or a real game.”
— Michael Jordan
11. “You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.”
— Michael Jordan
12. “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”
— Michael Jordan
13. “If you quit once, it becomes a habit. Never quit.”
— Michael Jordan
14. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
— Michael Jordan
15. “Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.”
— Michael Jordan
16. “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
17. “The key to success is failure.”
— Michael Jordan
18. “I’ve never been afraid to fail.”
— Michael Jordan
19. “I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.”
— Michael Jordan
20. “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
21. “Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.”
— Michael Jordan
22. “I never thought a role model should be negative.”
— Michael Jordan
23. “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
24. “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.”
— Michael Jordan
25. “Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight.”
— Michael Jordan
26. “If you do the work, you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.”
— Michael Jordan
27. “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
28. “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
29. “You can practice shooting eight 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
30. “The best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are.”
— Michael Jordan
31. “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
32. “I’ve never lost a game, I just ran out of time.”
— Michael Jordan
33. “Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.”
— Michael Jordan
34. “Limits, like fear, is often an illusion.”
— Michael Jordan
35. “Winning isn’t always championships.”
— Michael Jordan
36. “Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher.”
— Michael Jordan
37. “Heart is what separates the good from the great.”
— Michael Jordan
38. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”
— Michael Jordan
39. “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.”
— Michael Jordan
40. “I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent.”
— Michael Jordan
