Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

32 quotes

Basketball player and wordsmith — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (b. 1947) is an American voice whose observations cut across disciplines. Whether reflecting on History or Time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar brought uncommon clarity to every subject. 33 of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sharpest quotes live here, spanning themes of History, Time, Teacher, Success, and Sports. Start here and see if you agree: "I want to do as little as possible when I finish playing ball - just spend a lot more time with my family."

“My mother had to send me to the movies with my birth certificate, so that I wouldn't have to pay the extra fifty cents that the adults had to pay.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Movies

All Quotes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“I think that the good and the great are only separated by the willingness to sacrifice.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Great

“I have been coaching recently. I coached high school basketball in Arizona, and I hope that more opportunities become available.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Hope

“When I was a kid, no one would believe anything positive that you could say about black people. That's a terrible burden.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Positive

“If not for the success that medicine has made, I might be part of a much different story right now.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Success

“Music rhythms are mathematical patterns. When you hear a song and your body starts moving with it, your body is doing math. The kids in their parents' garage practicing to be a band may not realize it, but they're also practicing math.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Music

“Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Attitude

“I hope to be involved in a successful movie script.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Hope

“The '80s made up for all the abuse I took during the '70s. I outlived all my critics. By the time I retired, everybody saw me as a venerable institution. Things do change.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Change

“Sports and entertainment are the only places where inner-city kids see themselves being able to succeed. Their intellectual development is something they don't relate to.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Sports

“You can't win unless you learn how to lose.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Sports

“I am highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Success

“In athletics there's always been a willingness to cheat if it looks like you're not cheating. I think that's just a quirk of human nature.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Nature

“I have to say I have an incredible musical education because of my father.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Education

“Jackie Robinson, as an athlete and as someone who was trying to make a stand for equality, he was exemplary.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Equality

“I did a book in 1996, an overview of black history. In that process I became more aware of a lot of the black inventors of the 19th century.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

History

“I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That's not normal, even for my age.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Age

“In a typical history book, black Americans are mentioned in the context of slavery or civil rights. There's so much more to the story.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

History

“I tell kids to pursue their basketball dreams, but I tell them to not let that be their only dream.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Dreams

“My grandfather and my uncle both died from colorectal cancer, my dad almost died from it and I have the gene for it.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Dad

“I would suggest that teachers show their students concrete examples of the negative effects of the actions that gangsta rappers glorify.”

— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Teacher