1. 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

2. 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

3. There is no ‘i’ in team but there is in win.

- Michael Jordan

4. 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

5. Best evaluation I can make of a player is to look in his eyes and see how scared they are.

- Michael Jordan

6. It’s absolutely wrong that I don’t want guys to challenge me. And the people who say that aren’t in the room.

- Michael Jordan

7. I hope the millions of people I’ve touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and perseverance with a positive attitude.

- Michael Jordan

8. I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent.

- Michael Jordan

9. You’re going to play from the little girls’ tees?

- Michael Jordan

10. I wasn’t really a work-conscious type of person. I was a player. I loved to play sports.

- Michael Jordan

11. I never thought a role model should be negative.

- Michael Jordan

12. Failure is acceptable. but not trying is a whole different ball park.

- Michael Jordan

13. Do I need my number retired throughout the course of the league to acknowledge what I’ve done? No.

- Michael Jordan

14. 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

15. If I had been playing for money I would have complained a long time ago that I was underpaid.

- Michael Jordan

16. 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

17. Overall, I think Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete in any particular sport. He dominated the game for the Chicago Bulls and brought the NBA to its greatest peak of popularity.

- Michael Jordan

18. Michael Jordan changed so much in basketball, he took his power to make a difference. It’s so much going on in music right now and somebody has to make a difference.

- Michael Jordan

19. 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

20. Gambling is legal and betting is legal, for what I bet.

- Michael Jordan

21. I’d like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life. Somewhat. I know it’s never going to be completely normal.

- Michael Jordan

22. The best come from the worst.

- Michael Jordan

23. Michael Jordan and Magic and myself all learned how to play the game in college programs that emphasized the team.

- Michael Jordan

24. I want to do for rebounds what Michael Jordan did for dunks.

- Michael Jordan

25. 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.

- Michael Jordan

26. 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

27. I will not quit this game because of what the media has done to me.

- Michael Jordan

28. 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

29. I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era.

- Michael Jordan

30. If somebody says no to you, or if you get cut, Michael Jordan was cut his first year, but he came back and he was the best ever. That is what you have to have. The attitude that I’m going to show everybody, I’m going to work hard to get better and better.

- Michael Jordan

31. 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

32. Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.

- Michael Jordan

33. You can’t explain much in 60 seconds, but when you show Michael Jordan, you don’t have to. It’s that simple.

- Michael Jordan

34. Playing sick. That is so hard to do. It has to be a total mental challenge, as well as the physical challenge.

- Michael Jordan

35. They don’t need a ticket to watch you sitting on the bench. They can go to your house for that.

- Michael Jordan

36. In 1981, when I went down to visit Georgia Tech, I watched Michael Jordan play and literally get ridiculed for taking a jump shot in the championship game that went off the backboard, and they won. People are forgetting that Michael was just one of the players when they went to the Dream Team.

- Michael Jordan

37. You’re a loser. You’ve always been a loser.

- Michael Jordan

38. I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat.

- Michael Jordan

39. Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight.

- Michael Jordan

40. I would tell players to relax and never think about what’s at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, you’ve lost your focus.

- Michael Jordan

41. 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

42. I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges.

- Michael Jordan

43. 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

44. Don’t let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.

- Michael Jordan

45. 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

46. 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

47. 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

48. 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

49. I can’t speak for the future. I have no crystal ball.

- Michael Jordan

50. I want to be the bridge to the next generation.

- Michael Jordan

51. What is love? Love is playing every game as if it’s your last.

- Michael Jordan

52. I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.

- Michael Jordan

53. My challenge when I came back was to face the young talent, to dissect their games, and show them maybe that they needed to learn more about the game than just the money aspect.

- Michael Jordan

54. 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

55. 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

56. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

- Michael Jordan

57. 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

58. I grew up in Chicago, and I understand what Michael Jordan symbolizes.

- Michael Jordan

59. The key to success is failure.

- Michael Jordan

60. I want to play for years.

- Michael Jordan

61. If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.

- Michael Jordan

62. People ask me if I could fly, I said, ‘yeah…. for a little while.’

- Michael Jordan

63. In reality, I never want to grow up.

- Michael Jordan

64. Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher.

- Michael Jordan

65. There’s only one Michael Jordan.

- Michael Jordan

66. Even when I’m old and gray, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.

- Michael Jordan

67. My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline.

- Michael Jordan

68. Being Michael Jordan means acting the same as I always have.

- Michael Jordan

69. It’s hard to say if the NBA is hurt by the influx of younger players, but it’s definitely impacted the league.

- Michael Jordan

70. 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.

- Michael Jordan

71. The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.

- Michael Jordan

72. 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

73. It is nerve-wracking watching my kids’ games.

- Michael Jordan

74. I realize that I’m black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody’s wish.

- Michael Jordan

75. Every time I feel tired while I am exercising and training, I close my eyes to see that picture, to see that list with my name. This usually motivates me to work again.

- Michael Jordan

76. I own the guy guarding me.

- Michael Jordan

77. If you look up the definition of greatness in the dictionary, it will say Michael Jordan.

- Michael Jordan

78. You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.

- Michael Jordan

79. I mean we all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others.

- Michael Jordan

80. 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

81. 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

82. 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

83. 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

84. I like control.

- Michael Jordan

85. 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

86. For a competitive junkie like me, golf is a great solution because it smacks you in the face every time you think you’ve accomplished something. That to me has taken over a lot of the energy and competitiveness for basketball.

- Michael Jordan

87. 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

88. I know the signs of scaredness.

- Michael Jordan

89. 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.

- Michael Jordan

90. In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money.

- Michael Jordan

91. 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

92. There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don’t believe there is only one greatest player either.

- Michael Jordan

93. Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.

- Michael Jordan

94. To put it another way, Michael Jordan was a gym rat.

- Michael Jordan