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