194 Inspiring Quotes by Shaquille O'Neal

One lucky shot deserves another.

I don't get nervous in any situation. There's no such thing as nerves when you're playing games.

Whenever I see a celebrity that comes to watch me play, I'm going to do for them the same thing they've done for me -- bring them some type of joy.

I don't believe that I personally have been changed by the money. The bad thing is people assume you've changed because now you have money.

We're just going to come out and play. We know that we're supposed to win all the games, but if we don't, we just have to take the next game and focus on what we did wrong in the game before and just try to do better at the next game.

This is a tough game. There are times when you've got to play hurt, when you've got to block out the pain.

I started out as a young Ninja and killed all of the Shoguns. I am a Shogun now and I'm holding my spot. There probably won't be another Shogun after this.

I put a lot into it, and when I am done playing, I plan on going undercover and then being the sheriff or chief of police somewhere, either Miami or Orlando, I don't know yet.

I play against a front and a back every night, Ming does not have to do that, Duncan does not have to do that, Garnett doesn't do that. I am the only one that has to do that.

But, hey I did everything the right way and earned my spot in this game, nothing was given to me.

But that is the only thing that slows me down is the system. No one, two or three was big enough to slow me down, only the system. It was the system that slowed me down to make my numbers fall. Not because I am older.

Being here feels like I'm out of prison. This is the right place, the right time, the right team.

I have never been a shooter.

I would like to be refered to as 'The Big Aristotle'.

Why don't you bring your face up here and let me punch it? Then you can tell me if I'm stronger.

Nobody's going to tell me how to be different, so stop asking me. Stop asking me what two-plus-two is. Everybody knows two-plus-two is five.

I want to be known as 'The Big Shakespeare.' It was Shakespeare that said, 'Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them.'

I'm an unorthodox type of guy, a funny guy -- at least I think I'm funny. And one of the things I like to do is come up with nicknames for myself.

I'm a weird big guy. Doing rapping, doing movies. Do a lot of stuff. But always do things the right way.

There is no answer to the Pythagorean theorem. Well, there is an answer, but by the time you figure it out, I got 40 points, 10 rebounds and then we're planning for the parade.

For all my friends in the media who like quotes, mark this quote down. From this day on I'd like to be known as 'The Big Aristotle' because Aristotle once said, 'Excellence is not a singular act; it's a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.'

Everything happens for a reason. I'm used to it, I prepare for it. Like I say, at the end of the day, those in charge of their own destiny are going to do what's right for them and their family.

I love race car drivers, I love gymnastics, I love UFC, I love police officers, I love firefighters. I just try to give them the same enjoyment they give me.

Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just God's way to say nobody's perfect.

David Stern should get with the mothers of the NBA and let the moms decide what the dress code should be. I asked my mother if I could wear a chain, and she told me yeah. So I do stuff that my parents allow me to do.

I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.

If you got the game, you got the game. That's why Tiger Woods is out there playing golf with Greg Norman.

Someday I might have to put down a basketball and have a regular 9-to-5 like everybody else.

I'm on a mission. And I know the older I get, I may lose a step or two, but it's all up in the medulla oblongata. I've got a lot up there. I've got a lot of knowledge... in this medulla oblongata.

Kids can still call me Shaq, but adults should call me Dr. O'Neal.

I don't know anything about cars. I can promise you that.

And I want to do it the right way, like everybody else, not just a famous figurehead that gets a job because he is a famous basketball player. I want to really learn the business.

I had an awful first quarter but I picked it up. To all you single guys out there, it's not how you start the date, it's how you finish it sir. A lot of people can, you know, start the date with flowers and candy, but if you don't finish the date -- you know what I mean?

I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie.

We want to win. We want to win big. We want to win the whole thing.

For once in my career, I won't have to hold anybody's hand and they won't have to hold mine. I'm surrounded by veterans. We had a great battle last Thursday at HealthPoint. It was something I never had before -- three, four, really great players all in one pickup game.

It's t'ai chi every time. I'm using your positive energy, and I'm blowing off it. See, most guys can't push, they got to lean. When they lean, I spin.

It feels good. It's not bad for somebody who can't shoot.

I'm not worried about facing the Sacramento Queens. Write it down. Take a picture. I'm not going to talk about this all year. When I get back, there's going to be trouble.

Afterwards I said Chris Webber was going to leave as a free agent and Sacramento would go back to expansionism.

The two top teams with nice weather and nice people were Dallas and Miami. Of course, the Lakers wouldn't want to trade me in the same conference, so Miami was perfect.

I love the Miami atmosphere.

Remember this-I'm going to bring a championship to Miami. I promise.

The Big Cactus... because if you come too close, you're gonna get stuck.

My sons love LeBron more than they love me. I'm just a little jealous about it.

Since I suffered the injury on company time, why shouldn't I also be able to get surgery and do recovery on company time?

I'm not a young jitterbug anymore. When I was a young jitterbug, I never won. I didn't start winning until I got older. The older I get, the wiser I get. You just have to play it smart.

Pluto is not a planet, but I am.

I'm more like a senior adviser so I don't like to come in here and try to take over. Just like your basic karate movie where the young guys come to the old guys with beards who have them do weird stuff to get to the other side. That's who I am, the old guy with a long beard.

I dribble rhymes like basketball...
People call me 'E.T.'
What's that, Shaq man?
'Extra Tall.'

As a youngster, my mother and father always drilled into my head having something to fall back on. My father was kind of funny. I'd score 40 points. I'd come home and say, 'Look dad, I scored 40.' He'd never have a smile on his face. He'd be like, 'I saw that move you did. What if you'd hurt your knee?'

I want to go to police academy, I want to actually go out and make a couple of arrests. I want to go undercover.

I'm going to be on a mission. I've handled my personal vendettas and handled them well. Every challenge you put in front of me, I've handled it, dismantled it -- ate them, dropped them off in the bathroom and flushed them away.

I'm still here. I'm a force to be reckoned with... you have to come take my spot, and not through Twitter and not through the media, come take my spot. I'm ready to go. As big men in the league, there are two who have done something special during this millennium. I'm one and Tim Duncan is the other. Anyone else has to come upstairs and see the Shogun. I'm still the Shogun.

I told our guys they must not have cable because Antoine Walker knows how to play, Derek Anderson can play, Shandon Anderson knows how to play, and Gary Payton knows how play.

I just want everyone to know I'm suing Ruben Studdard. He had his hand on my ass and he wouldn't let go.

I'm like toilet paper, toothpaste and certain amenities -- I'm proven to be good. I've still got 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years left.

Some of my favorite songs -- and I don't know if this is the right terminology -- are white-boy classics.

There's no answer for my offense, just like the polythagorean theorem.

Man, I don't wanna do what all the other guys do. I don't wanna end up in the booth after the games telling you what I think and talking smack about the guys on the floor when they are a lot better than that. I wanna be different. I don't wanna be known as Commentator Shaq. I wanna be a doctor or something good. I wanna be Dr. Shaq, Officer Shaq, Deputy Shaq.

There is nothing for me to be sour about. What you got to understand is that I'm a military man. We usually do my shift for four or five years and then you got to move on.

I'm sort of like a specialist. I go in, do what I do and every four years, they get tired of me and I have to relocate myself.

Get your tickets now. Buy cable now. Get your jerseys now. Pull your boats up to the docking stations now. Bring your Sea-Doos now. If you can't afford a Sea-Doo, get a raft.

To all the young people out there who think money and fame is important: that's only a small piece of the pie. You need an education to be totally secure in life. I feel very secure I can go get a real job now.

Kobe always tried to be a hero. But you know, as the saying goes, a hero ain't nothing but a sandwich.

I respect the older guys.

I'm a realist. I like to put it in business terms. I ran three different corporations my way and I was successful. But I'm an older guy who is on his way out so they brought me in as a consultant for the new, up-and-coming CEO. I'm here for him.

In this millennium that we live in, the 'Hack-a-Shaq' has proven not to work. It might work a couple games every now and then, but when it comes to the playoffs or a championship series, it doesn't work -- not at all.

Incense. Books. Just weird.

I didn't say anything. Got nothing to say. I'm a married man; I don't need a relationship with another man.

In junior high in Germany I fought kids all the time. I had such a bad temper, I almost got thrown out of school. A few lickings from my dad got me out of that scene. He wore me out with a paddle.

My personal opinion is, how, if you never hung out with somebody, do you know them so well? I never hung out with that dude because the dude is a weirdo.

I'm going back to the old Shaq. I was normal last year -- I was an earthling last summer. I had to go back to my alien roots.

I don't see us having a problem. It's going to be my job to manage the locker room, anyway, so it will work out.

About strip clubs and athletes. The best way I can explain why a lot of players end up there is because it's one of the safest places a high-profile person can spend time in a boring city.

That was a foul, young lady. You know that was a foul. Don't ask dumb questions.

I'll beat you up right now if you want me to.

The Spurs are a great WNBA team.

We're going to miss Damon. He was a great shooter... He got what he wanted, but he gave up a lot. No more night life, no more warm weather and no more a lot of media attention... I guess this was his first shot at getting something big. I guess he had to take it.

I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me. And the one guy who didn't vote for me, thank you, too.

We had more great times than bad times together, but they've moved on, I've moved on. I have a new team now and I have a new focus.

I was really upset. I felt like they tried to limit me, whoever 'they' may be. So I just said to myself third quarter I'm going to come out and do what I do.

My father made me who I am. He gave me a basketball and told me to play with the ball, sleep with the ball, dream with the ball. Just don't take it to school. I used it as a pillow, and it never gave me a stiff neck.

I don't ever want to grow up. I guess I'm like Peter Pan. Grown-ups have problems. I want to stay happy.

Shaquille O'Neal has always been one to speak the truth.

When I retire, I'm going after his job. If I don't make sheriff, I'm going after his job. He's not that good. You can quote me on that.

There's two kinds of dirty -- dirty and sewer-dirty. Danny Ferry is sewer-dirty and has been ever since he was at Duke.

I'm not going to try to go out there and outdo him. I don't have to try to outdo him, I'm Shaq.

If you want Shaq to be Shaq, you've got to remember that Shaq is known for wreaking havoc offensively -- 26,000-plus points without consistently making free throws. Don't have me doing something I'm not used to doing. I ain't used to being a pick-setter. Let me badda-bing, badda-bang.

If you're going to hire an assassin, let him go out and kill someone. I can't be Shaq taking six or seven shots.

I am aware that most people only see me as Shaq... the guy on the court. But there is another side to who I am, Shaquille O'Neal. And Shaquille O'Neal wants to explore every part of life. He wants the opportunity to pursue all of his desires. That includes being a part of the music industry as an MC. Music is and will always be a part of who I am.

The Hack-A-Shaq is just a way of telling me that you can't stop me. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I endorse only products I actually use. Like Wheaties keeps offering me money, but I don't eat Wheaties, so I can't do it. Now, if Rice Krispies or Frosted Flakes offered me a deal, I'd take it right away. Apple Jacks, I'd be on the box in a heartbeat. Apple Shaqs. Yeah.

I told my wife when I was rolling up -- I felt like the president.

He's just intelligent-sort of a nerd, actually. He's the only brother I know who made a 1420 on the SAT. I don't think Chris Dudley did that, and Mr. Smarty Pants went to Yale. Kobe doesn't hang out. He doesn't go to the clubs. He doesn't ride around. He doesn't put rims on his car. He's just him. He's a sophisticated kid. Damn mature for his age.

I'm still the baddest expletive in the world. Yeah, I'm getting older, but Kareem got older. Hakeem got older. I don't need Earthlings' respect. When it's all said and done, my name will be there and it will be mentioned ... unless you Earthlings try to erase it.

I'm the LCL -- the Last Center Left. I've been doing the same things for 13 years, but now they're flopping and falling, and the refs are falling for it, too.

Tell Yao Ming, 'Ching- chong- yang- wah- ah- soh.'

I'm always ready for a change. I'm Irish. I'm a leprechaun.

Can I go one day without somebody saying something negative about me?

There was not too much to do as a kid when we arrived in Germany. Playing basketball and listening to music gave me something to do.

Stats don't matter. I care about winning, not stats. If I score 0 points and we win I'm happy. If I score 50, 60 points, break the records, and we lose, I'm pissed off. 'Cause I knew I did something wrong. I'll have a hell of a season if I win the championship and average 20 points a game.

Excellence is a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.

A pinch is a pinch. If you pinch my right nipple, I'm going to say, 'ouch.' If I pinch your right nipple, you're going to say 'ouch.' A foul is a foul and a flagrant is a flagrant.

If you take a needle and stick her in the booty and take a needle and stick me in the booty, we're both going to say ouch.

I'm the NBA's best NFL player, and I've always been the sexiest 7-footer in the NBA -- for 12 years running.

Write this: Since my boy is the coach, I'm going to try out for the Dolphins next year. Tight end.

They asked me when I was out there, 'Why do you want to be traded?' I said me staying here is like divorcing my wife and marrying someone who looks like me. That's backwards, man.

I'm a mama's boy above all.

The Miami Heat has the best fans.

I had orders from the great Bill Russell. Me and him were talking in Seattle the other day, and he was telling me how rivalries should be. I asked him if he ever disliked anybody he played against, and he told me, 'No, never,' and he told me that I should shake Kobe Bryant's hand and let bygones be bygones and bury the hatchet.

I am Superman. And the only thing that can kill Superman is Kryptonite. And Kryptonite doesn't exist.

The stats win nothing. I'm still sexy. I'm still great.

If I was able to have the game I have and shoot 80% from the line, I'd probably be an arrogant person rather than a humble one. Everything happens for a reason.

I think everything happens for a reason. With my game being the way it is, if I did shoot 80 percent, I'd be a harder person to deal with. It just keeps me humble. Just imagine me in my game shooting the same percentage that Reggie Miller shoots. I wouldn't even talk to you guys because I wouldn't have to.

When I get old, I'm going to the old folks' home. I don't want to be one of those guys who's hanging around the house bothering the kids. But not just any old folks' home. I want the whole top floor.

It's my job to make him look good. He's a very good looking man, so it's my job to keep him looking good.

I think it's a great city. I think it's a fabulous city. But in my young juvenile days, I was an idiot, and I bought 30 cars. And I need to drive those cars, and New York isn't really the place you can do that.

It's hard to get up for a good high-school team like the Chicago Bulls.

It's just one more win. I don't give a bleep how we do it, as long as we get it done. Did I say bleep? I'm sorry.

Some things you just can't question. Like you can't question why two plus two is four. So don't question it, don't try to look it up. I don't know who made it, all I know is it was put in my head that two plus two is four. So certain things happen. Why does it rain? Why am I so sexy? I don't know.

Well, I don't remember all the names of all the clubs we went to.

I'm upset at myself. I should have had 50. I missed 13 free throws. That's unacceptable. If I want to be accepted by Wilt and Kareem and Russell I've got to start playing better than that. Right now I'm still in the class of Hakeem and David Robinson and that's not good enough for me. I want to be out there with the immortals.

I'd shoot zero percent before I'd shoot underhanded.

Yeah, D-Wade called me up last night and said that he saw some film of me in high school and thinks that my form then was better and that I should shoot like that. I told him I'd think about it and then my pops called and said something like that so I decided to revert back and then.

Coach (Pat) Riley told us on June 8 we'd win the title on June 20.

You know what's crazy about Yao? He speaks perfect English. A lot of people don't know that. Perfect English. When I was over there, I called him. He's like, 'Whassup big fella?' Perfect English!

I don't send messages, I'm not a fax machine.

Guys have made livings off me. Nick Anderson got a new contract. Travis Knight got a new contract off me. As a matter of fact, Derek Fisher called me yesterday to thank me. If you double me, I'm kicking out to Eddie, who's the best shooter in the East. Or I'm going to give it to Dwyane, or put it on the ground and come bang on you.

I said what I felt, and people try to control people. But you can never control me. I'm a 31-year-old juvenile delinquent. Nobody can control me.

There will be a report coming out, and my name will be on it.

It was a cheap shot. They won the game, move on. My thing is, I don't ask for a lot, but I demand my respect, especially from a guy like that.

There is nothing to say because I know everything about him. I raised him. I know what's a charade, and I know what's not a charade. I'll leave it at that.

On paper, I think this is the best team I've been on.

Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit.

Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one. I never knock a man for his opinion.

Everybody talks about being a role model. But if you look up the word 'role' in a dictionary, it describes playing a part. Everything I'm into, it's real to me. There's nothing fake about it.

This really isn't a game we really should be proud of. This game is liking taking your kids to the zoo. You're supposed to take your kids to the zoo. You're a father. So a team like that, we're supposed to beat them like this.

Somebody out there was trying to use my language and trying to speak for me. Rather than have that happen, I thought I'd do it myself. It's a fun thing. It's a way for fans to connect.

The problem with kids these days is they don't have enough fun stuff to do. When I was stationed with my family in Germany, youth basketball programs gave me something to strive to do my best at.

I don't get tired. I get beat up. You keep chopping on a tree, you need to give the tree some rest so the chlorophyll will fill back up and the tree gets its energy back.

I'm the last in the line of Russells and Chamberlains.

No one was there. Some teammates, huh? I guess they didn't want to get their lip busted like the gentleman I busted. Sorry for that sir.

It means I don't have to charter that big jet for the family.

If you've got a Corvette that runs into a brick wall, you know what's going to happen. He's a Corvette. I'm a brick wall.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, bet you can't type that.