“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.”

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

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

You either have to be great or you have to be bad to get a good pick.

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

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

Standing on that platform, I said a silent prayer. I thanked God for giving me the strength and the opportunity to come back, to play basketball again, and to be part of that whole magnificent Olympic experience. It’s a memory I will always cherish.

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.

A woman always remembers. Remember that.

For me, it always goes back to something I learned in basketball.

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.

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.

Larry, you only told me one lie. You said there will be another Larry Bird. Larry, there will never, ever be another Larry Bird.

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

I strive on pressure.

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.

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.

With all your words of glass, I felt the wedding dress rip If I don’t want to give you the satisfaction of seeing me cry why should I want to give you the rest of my life?

Humans need breaks. Humans need to cry. Humans need to feel mad, sad, happy, and all the emotions in between. And humans need to have boundaries. 

Even the sky wept when you left.

Santa sobs recalling December’s decor, navigating joys volcano, overcoming dawns of insomnia, waking the snowflakes to find, yearlong sleep, which delightfulness sneaks!

Your words may dim her light and make her cry, but you can never douse her flames how much ever you try.

I cry because I don’t know how to help you, but I can’t even help myself.

Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth — look at the dying man’s struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.

What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed that when the sigh and cry pass through them, it sounds like lovely music.