Magic Johnson Quotes

In life, winning and losing will both happen. What is never acceptable is quitting.

Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.

All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them.

You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it.

I want to be here for a long time, so I am going to do everything I have to do to be here.

I grew up poor, but I didn't have poor dreams

Because if you're going to lose, lose. I'm serious.

I motivate others by making sure that they understand to go after their dreams and dont let anyone tell you you cant. If you are motivated enough and put the work in that you can achieve anything in life that you set your mind to.

For me, it always goes back to something I learned in basketball. There's winning and there's losing, and in life you have to know they both will happen. But what's never been acceptable to me is quitting.

I think you just have to keep knocking down doors, you have to keep being aggressive, and even if somebody says 'No', then you have to knock on the next door.

Just celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had.

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.

I am a businessman. This is what I do each and every day. I love it. I love coming to work. I never have a bad day.

When I'm under the gun and I've got pressure on me, I don't panic. I look for the right solution, and then I go for it.

When you face a crisis, you know who your true friends are.

I'm a big believer in dreaming. If you don't dream it, you can't become it.

If the community is happy, then they support your business and if your business is doing well, then you can give back even more to the community.

I'm at peace with myself. The main thing is not letting people dictate what I do or what I am.

Everyone thought I was going to die like a year later, they didn't know. So I helped educate sports, and then the world, that a man living with HIV can play basketball. He's not going to give it to anybody by playing basketball.

My father was a great example of a strong and good man and Christian man, and my mother taught all my six sisters how to be young ladies and mothers and how to take care of your family. And so I think they were - they still are - great examples for all of us to their kids and to the world, too.

I really want people to know that I've worked hard, very hard, to get to where I am today.. this didn't just happen overnight. I started in business over 25 years ago and have found a way to build on what I've learned through every partnership and opportunity.

I never think that there's something I can't do, whether it's beating my opponent one on one or practicing another hour because something about my game is just not right.

When I first found out I had HIV, I had to find somebody who was living with it, who could help me understand my journey and what I was going to have to deal with day-to-day. I found out that a person named Elizabeth Frazier was living with AIDS at the time, and so I called her up, and she took a meeting with me.

I love coming to work. I never have a bad day.

A woman always remembers. Remember that.

When you are a successful business person, you are only as good as your team. No one can do every deal alone.

Research your idea. See if there's a demand. A lot of people have great ideas, but they don't know if there's a need for it. You also have to research your competition.

Everybody on a championship team doesn't get publicity, but everyone can say he's a champion.

There's Michael [Jordan], then there's the rest of us.

They said playing basketball would kill me. Well, not playing basketball was killing me.

I love to be in the ballpark. I love to just go in and enjoy a great baseball game, a great pitchers' duel.

It's a burden trying to keep a secret. It's hard. It probably takes more out of you trying to hold it and keep it than it does for you to really let it out.

If you're a competitive person, that stays with you. You don't stop. You always look over your shoulder.

Assists is what Earvin is all about. That's what my whole life has been, assisting others.

It's almost like we have ESPN.

The looks, the stares, the giggles . . . I wanted to show everybody that I could do better and also that I could read.

As an athlete, I understood the value of my health insurance. I knew that in my profession, injuries were common and could happen at any time.

WE all have to play as a team to make the world a better place

You don't have to be Magic to be special. You're already special, you're you.

Life doesnt stop because something happens to you.

I strive on pressure.

Magic is who I am on the basketball court. Earvin is who I am.

God blessed me with two unbelievable parents, and I am just like both of them. I have the smile and charisma of my mother and the big heart of my mom, because she wants to save the world and help the world, so I am just like her.

You can't get AIDS from a hug or a handshake or a meal with a friend.

I want to be here for a long time, so I am going to do everything I have to do to be here. And I want to walk my daughter down the aisle and give her away to somebody some day. I want to make sure I am still here to make sure my two young [sons] become men.

Any guy who can maintain a positive attitude without much playing time certainly earns my respect.

Being able to touch so many people through my businesses and make money while doing it, is a huge blessing.

Even when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players. I picked guys with less talent, but who were willing to work hard and had the desire to be great.

HIV changed my life, but it doesn't keep me from living.

I was able to see what I wanted to do, I could see the opportunity, even when others could not, and I stay committed to doing it and doing it well, no matter what.