#23 Says | The Best Michael Jordan Quotes

Posted by Todd in Man Quotes

Michael Jordan just turned 50 years old this past Sunday. That fact makes me feel really mortal. I mean, when I watch Jordan’s high-flying acrobatics, it makes me feel invincible. Knowing the god of basketball is aging actually makes me ponder life. I’ve been looking up the best Michael Jordan quotes and have found some pretty timeless wisdom from Number 23 himself.

Never say never. Because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.

He summed up his career, and what drove him to such fierce competition when he stated this at his Hall of Fame acceptance speech. He closed his speech with the quote above, then added these final words: “Thank you very much. Looking forward to it.”

And I just have this horrible itch to know, what did he mean when he said “Looking forward to it?”

See Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame speech and the full transcript and text of it here.

There’s no “I” in team, but there is in “win”.

In response to his coach, Doug Collins, stating to him there’s no “me” in “team”.

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.

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

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.

I can accept failure, I can’t accept not trying.

The game of basketball has been everything to me. My refuge. My place I’ve always gone when I needed to find comfort and peace. It’s been a source of intense pain, and a source of most intense feelings of joy and satisfaction. And one that no one can even imagine.

Michael Jordan stated this during his 2009 Hall of Fame acceptance speech. I like to chew on it. Basketball is Michael Jordan’s refuge. For a man that once completely owned the sport, at age 50, how does he go to it as his refuge now?

See Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame speech and the full transcript and text of it here.

I’ve missed more than 9,000 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

Interestingly, Michael Jordan said he didn’t actually count how many times he’d been trusted with the game winning shot to have missed it. Still, it’s a powerful thing to hear from the ultimate Alpha Dog. Hear him say it in his own words:

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About the Author

Todd

He's a lover, not a fighter. But he's also a fighter, so don't get any ideas. He works for a series of private schools to advance innovative education to combat ballooning classroom sizes and challenge the status quo of the current public and private education format.