Magic Johnson quotes:

I have a fond place in my heart for Seattle, so I hope that an NBA team comes back to this great city, this great sports city.

I have to tell you, I'm proudest of my life off the court. There will always be great basketball players who bounce that little round ball, but my proudest moments are affecting people's lives, effecting change, being a role model in the community.

Manhood is taking care of your family and being able to bless other people. Not yourself - but whether you can bless other people.

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.

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.

I'm building shopping centers and movie theaters in the inner cities. So that means supplying jobs and letting blacks understand that we have to build our communities back, not looking to anybody else.

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

I tell people to look at me and understand that everybody first told me that I couldn't be a 6-foot, 9-inch point guard, and I proved them wrong. Then they told me I couldn't be a businessman and make money in urban America, and I proved them wrong. And they thought I couldn't win all these championships, and I proved them wrong there as well.

I'm the biggest music lover in the world. I mean, I have seen everybody. I went on tour with Michael Jackson and the Jacksons four or five times.

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

I often tell people when you make a mistake, you not only hurt yourself, but you hurt the ones that love you.

I get up 5:30-6 every morning. I'm in the gym. I run a couple miles.

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

I do not have bad days. I don't wake up in the morning and think that I'm going to get AIDS. I don't dream bad dreams about it. If I did, I'd be giving in to the negativity.

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.'

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.

All students should have the opportunity to receive their high school diplomas and be fully prepared for college or the workplace.

My family is a praying family, a Christian family.

My dad was my hero. And I got my personality from my mother.

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.

My first and only experience in baseball, the coach signed me up; he didn't tell me there's a thing called the curveball. I didn't know that. So the ball's coming at me and I start backing out, and then it broke inside. And the umpire says, 'Strike one!' And I'm saying, 'How is that a strike? It almost hit me!'

I got blessed from my mom. She's the personality; she's the one who smiled, so I took on part of her, and who also wanted to help and save the world. Then I took on part of my dad, who is tough.

I love putting people to work of color.

People see me high-fivin' and smiling on the court, and they don't think that's me. But it is. I just want to go out and be myself.

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.

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.

My diet is mostly chicken and fish. I make sure I get a lot of vegetables, a lot of fruit. I am a big fruit man, I am a vegetable man anyway. And I also get a lot of rest. That's the key I may be up early, but I'm in bed early too.

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

I am and will always be a Laker for life.

I'm gonna love my son until the end.

I motivate others by making sure that they understand to go after their dreams and don't let anyone tell you you can't. If you are motivated enough and put the work in that you can achieve anything in life that you set your mind to.

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

I think that there are always goals for me to try to achieve, and I'm going to work toward those goals.

ObamaCare is working. I talk to a lot of CEOs of hospitals. It is working.

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

When a woman is frustrated, and it's your wife, you as the husband get that frustration.

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

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.

I look three to five years ahead, not 10 years behind.

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

For a long time, I'd work until 10 or 11. When I work, I'm on. I'm 'Magic.' I love it, but it takes a lot out of me.

The best doctors and medicine in the world can't save you if you don't do what you're supposed to do.

The gay community has taken care of their issues and problems in terms of HIV/AIDS. They have done an incredible job. We as heterosexuals need to learn from the gay community because they have rallied together. They have sent a lot of information out there. They go get tested.

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.

Athletes don't like to get up early, but it never bothered me.

My father is my idol, so I always did everything like him. He used to work two jobs and still come home happy every night.

My dad worked two jobs his whole life, and so I told him he's the reason I have 20 jobs.

Sometimes friends move apart from each other for whatever reason.

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 don't care who is attacking my son. I still support him; I still love him.

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

It's almost like we have ESPN.

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

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

The important thing is this Just because I'm doing well doesn't mean that they're going to do well if they get HIV. A lot of people have died since I have announced. This disease is not going anywhere.

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

Christmas Day was special because everybody is watching at home. That's what I loved about Christmas Day because it shined the spotlight on the Lakers, on our team, and we knew that all of the other leagues were at home and millions of people were watching. So it made it a special day to play on Christmas.

To me, everything is wonderful. Life is wonderful.

I wanted to do two things when I was growing up, about your age. I wanted to play in the NBA, and I wanted to be a businessman after my basketball career was over, and that is what I am doing now.

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.

Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates.

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

You know I was a shy guy and people didn't know that and still don't know it today. I'm sure basketball brought my shyness out because of the fact that you have to do interviews, and that people are always talking to you in terms of the fans and everything.

I like things going on in my life. I don't want to be on a beach somewhere just relaxing.

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

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.

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

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.

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

I'm not cured, but the HIV is asleep deep in my body.

I'm the one who will take chances, not worry about the backlash.

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.

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. Magic is a guy who would stand for nothing but winning and really prepared himself as well as he prepared his team. Earvin is the complete opposite.

I met wonderful people playing in the NBA. Whether it is the officials, the scorekeepers, all the people who work for the NBA, not just for the Lakers, but I'm talking about just for the league itself.

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

No one plans to get sick or hurt - I certainly didn't - but most people will need medical care at some point in their lives.

When you think about the NASCAR brand, it resonates everywhere. They have the No. 1 sports brand.

I'm from there. You know, when you grow up with these people and see them every day and then you look at the numbers it was easy; it was a no-brainer. And when Sony took a look, it was a no-brainer to them, too.

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

I grew up a Detroit Tigers fan, and now to be an owner of the Dodgers is amazing.

I'm the one who started redevelopment in South Los Angeles, not Jan Perry. I did it. I love Jan. She's a good person, and she did a wonderful job with what she did downtown, but in L.A., South L.A., I'm the one.

Urban America is like a foreign country in a sense.

I'll hear people say every so often that having HIV must not be so bad - 'Just look at Magic and how well he's doing.'

I thank Him every chance I get - on my knees praying.

A woman always remembers. Remember that.

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

Life doesn't stop because something happens to you.

Every kid, every minority kid can be so successful if they focus on their education.

When I grew up, my family, we sat down, all of us to watch 'Good Times,' 'Sanford and Son,' all those shows that were out at that time.

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.

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

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

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

Don't give up! Be friends with people who help you work hard.

Even as a fierce competitor I try to smile.

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.

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.

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

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

I learned to give him the ball....

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

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.

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.

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

I strive on pressure.

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.

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

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.

I was around when my father finished the last payment of his house. I remember like it was yesterday. He had worked all those years to own that house and he cried. He was so excited and so happy and I want to see other people get that feeling, too.

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.

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.

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.

If you come to me and say, 'Hey look I'm a racist,' or 'I discriminate against blacks,' or 'I don't like you because you're African American,' I respect that. I can respect you more by doing that. But don't smile in my face, shake my hand, and then you don't really respect me, or want me to be around, or come to your games as the owner of the Clippers.

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

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

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

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

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've always studied business. Even when I was a ball player, I'd read business journals and the business sections of newspapers.