Magic Johnson Quotes

If you hate to lose, you do whatever you need to do to make sure you're business is successful.

I only know how to play two ways: reckless and abandon.

I tell you, it's funny because the only time I think about HIV is when I have to take my medicine twice a day.

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

The audience likes their emotions to be touched. They want to laugh and cry and feel good.

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.

We are a company that lives and breathes a philosophy that's centered on not only making sound business decisions but also personally and professionally finding ways to contribute to the well being of society. We are also a company that understands community.

It all started when I got injured early in my second season. This turned out to be as difficult emotionally as physically.

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.

If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to use every connection you’ve got.

When you are honest and open with young people, they let you in.

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

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

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

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.

I love business. I love helping urban communities grow. I love putting people to work of color. I love making sure - like right now the whole mortgage crisis, I want to help people get back into their homes.

I enjoy being the messenger for God in terms of letting people know about HIV and AIDS.

A lot of black guys always ask me, 'Did Larry Bird really play that good?' I said, 'Larry Bird is so good it's frightening.'

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.

Magic is crazy. He is that crazy wild guy on the basketball court that is very intense and very serious. He is the guy who lives and eats and breathes basketball.

If you want someone to be your mentor, you better be ready to listen and be humbled.

People don't stop eating, and they don't stop drinking coffee.

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.

The worst moment from all of this was driving from that doctor's office, to tell my wife that I was HIV positive.

The first year was hard for me to deal with. The second year was a little bit easier, but still difficult. It took me five years to get it out of me. It was a difficult moment, a difficult time.

The real story is that I had unprotected sex. That's that. That's easy.

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

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.

I guess when people ask what is the biggest transition to the NBA from college, it is definitely defense and the mental part.

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

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.

If people around you aren't going anywhere, if their dreams are no bigger than hanging out on the corner, or if they're dragging you down, get rid of them.

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

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

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

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

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

To me, everything is wonderful. Life is wonderful.

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.

It's almost like we have ESPN.

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

With businesses, you go to the same places because you like the service, you like the people and they take care of you. They greet you with a smile. That's how people want to be treated, with respect. That's what I tell my employees - customer service is very important.

Young people want you to be real with them.

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.

On the best tactic when playing alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- Just give him the ball.

I wouldn't do the 'Magic Hour' again, but I would do TV again. The 'Magic Hour' is not me. Anything I would do, I would have to be me. That is how it would work.

A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom. Just like right now with the whole mortgage crisis, I want to help people get back into their homes.

On his telepathic understanding with James Worthy- It's almost like we have ESPN.