Snapshot · The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Godin argues Jordan's famous quote — 'If you quit once it becomes a habit, never quit' — is factually incorrect because Jordan himself quit basketball and baseball at various points.
Where this was said
At 1:13:31 · chapter starts 1:13:11
The Michael Jordan 'never quit' quote on Bartlett's gym wall is the episode's most direct confrontation. Godin's counter is elegant: Jordan doesn't play professional baseball anymore. He doesn't play professional golf. He doesn't even play professional basketball anymore. [1] — Seth Godin "Jordan's famous 'never quit' quote is inspirational — and demonstrably false. Jordan quit baseball. He quit golf. He eventually quit basket…" 1:13:31 The man whose quote says never quit quit everything he ever started, because he had the wisdom to know when something was no longer producing results. Jordan's fuel — grievance and never-quit — worked for Jordan in basketball, Godin acknowledges. But for most people, that same fuel becomes shame, a knot, and another reason to stay stuck. Bartlett pushes the cultural contradiction: we celebrate starting new things (new jobs, new relationships, new businesses) while stigmatising the quitting that necessarily preceded every start. The logical conclusion — we should celebrate quitting the right things as loudly as we celebrate beginning — is one neither culture nor motivational posters has caught up to.
Jordan's famous 'never quit' quote is inspirational — and demonstrably false. Jordan quit baseball. He quit golf. He eventually quit basketball. Godin argues that grievance and never-quit were the right fuels for Jordan specifically, but for most people they create shame, resistance, and paralysis.
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