57 Michael Jordan's Best Motivation quotes
Jun 01, 2021
Last updated: 26 July 2026
- Michael Jordan attributes much of his success to learning from repeated failure, including missed shots and losses, rather than avoiding it.
- He emphasized fundamentals, such as proper shooting technique and work ethic, as the foundation that everything else in performance is built on.
- His quotes highlight teamwork and intelligence as what wins championships, distinguishing individual talent from what it takes to win as a group.
- Jordan described basketball itself as a source of mental peace, saying he felt free from outside worries while playing.
Michael Jordan is the living legend of basketball. His exceptional achievement and hord work have made him one of the greatest athlete of all time.
Michael Jodran is known to be relentless and has never gave up once his mind set to achieve something.
He cultivated his talent and turned every failure into a challenge to become better. He is a model of inspiration to all of us.
Here’s
1. "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."
2. "I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."
3. "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."
4. "If you quit once it becomes a habit. Never quit!"
5. "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."
6. "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."
7. "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying."
8. "You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."
9. "If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome."
10. "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."
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Jordan Belfort Canvas Art11. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."
12. "Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night."
13. "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."
14. "Sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realize that you’re in a fight."
15. "Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."
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16. "I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else’s talent."
17. "I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era."
18. "In any investment, you expect to have fun and make money."
19. "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."
20. "Don’t let them drag you down by rumors, just go with what you believe in."
21. "I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot… when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result."
22. "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."
23. "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."
24. "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."
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25. "Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher."
26. "It is easy to choose a path of anonymity and lead an empty life. But to strive hard and lead an impactful life, one needs a burning desire to realize dreams."
27. "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."
28. "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."
29. "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."
30. "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."
31. "Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again."
32. "What is love? Love is playing every game as if it’s your last!"
33. "The key to success is failure."
34. "I want to be the bridge to the next generation."
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36. "It’s absolutely wrong that I don’t want guys to challenge me. And the people who say that aren’t in the room."
37. "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."
38. "I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges."
39. "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."
40. "Failure is acceptable. but not trying is a whole different ball park."
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41. "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."
42. "The best come from the worst."
43. "I mean we all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others."
44. "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."
45. "Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher."
46. "The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace."
47. "My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline."
48. "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."
49. "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."
50. "To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail."
51. "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."
52. "Playing sick. That is so hard to do. It has to be a total mental challenge, as well as the physical challenge."
53. "I like control."
54. "I will not quit this game because of what the media has done to me."
55. "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."
56. "Even when I’m old and gray, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game."
57. "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."
To conclude we hope you will find a lot of inspiration in these 57 Michael Jordan's Best Motivation quotes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How did Michael Jordan handle failure during his career?
He treated failure as a necessary part of eventual success rather than something to avoid. His quotes describe missing thousands of shots and losing many games over his career, framing each failure as a learning opportunity that ultimately contributed to his growth as a player rather than a setback that held him back.
What did Michael Jordan think separates good players from champions?
According to his quotes, championship character is built during the unseen hours of preparation, not just demonstrated during the actual competition. He described champions as being made in the training, practice, and daily discipline that happens long before a game, with the final performance simply reflecting all that prior work.
Did Michael Jordan value individual talent over teamwork?
No, he explicitly distinguished between the two, saying talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence win championships. His quotes suggest that individual skill can carry a team only so far, and that shared effort and smart collective play are what separate teams that win occasionally from those that win consistently at the highest level.
What role did fundamentals play in Jordan's approach to basketball?
He considered fundamentals, like proper shooting technique and mental preparation, essential to performance at every level. His quotes warn that skipping fundamentals in favor of shortcuts can cause performance to collapse, whether in a game, schoolwork, or a job, suggesting he viewed strong basics as the foundation everything else is built on.
