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?'
— Shaquille O'Neal
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.
Because I'm so big, you have to look at me. I think of myself as a monument. But sometimes I like to feel small.
When I'm done playing basketball, I want do something bigger. I'm working on my doctorate right now at Barry University in Florida.
When I tweet, I try and accomplish three things. One, is to make you laugh. Two, is to inform you. Three, is to enlighten you. That's all I do.
I've always been a leader. Every team I've played on, I've led my way.
My job has always been to entertain people. I want people to laugh.
I never worry about the problem. I worry about the solution.
I'm short and to the point.
Can I go one day without somebody saying something negative about me?
When you flop, that's just another message that you don't know how to play me. Stand up and take your medicine like a man.
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.
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.
I'm a weird big guy. Doing rapping, doing movies. Do a lot of stuff. But always do things the right way.
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 do what I do. Always.
Our offense is like the pythagorean theorem: There is no answer!
I was fortunate enough to see and handle and take in everything I could while I was playing.
I've met a lot of artists who wanted to paint me. LeRoy Neiman was one. He did it from a photograph. He made 20,000 copies, and we sold them all.
Art is a process of delivering or arranging elements that appeal to the emotions of a person looking at it. It's what you feel.
Generals don't panic; then the troops never panic.
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.
When you're in championships, it's never about what you do. It's always about what other people do.
The best quality about Kobe Bryant? You want me to be honest? I don't know. I'll tell you why. I open my arms to everybody. But he never stepped forward for the embrace. So I never really got to know him. I don't know anything about him, and it's kinda sad.
I'm a mama's boy above all.
I just want to keep people entertained.
Kids can still call me Shaq, but adults should call me Dr. O'Neal.
I knew I was dog meat. Luckily, I'm the high-priced dog meat that everybody wants. I'm the good-quality dog meat. I'm the Alpo of the NBA.
When you're righteous, you don't have to tell people that you're righteous.
I'm like tax. You're going to pay one way or the other.
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've been playing on Christmas for the last 10, 11, 12 years. So just got to get up early with the babies, and give them their toys and try to get a nap in and just come to play.
I don't get nervous in any situation. There's no such thing as nerves when you're playing games.
I would like to be refered to as 'The Big Aristotle'.
I don't know anything about cars. I can promise you that.
Donald Trump is a great friend, and he has four or five Picassos on his plane. And that's where I would look at them.
I'm done with the nicknames. Actually, when I obtain my doctorate, I will not allow people to call me Shaq anymore, either.
We live in an impatient world. Everybody is always looking for the next big Kobe, the next big LeBron, the next big Twitter.
Every time I do something silly, it comes off really funny because it's natural.
I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie.
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.
I'm very educated and can give you somewhat of a vocabulary, but I don't get to the philosophical side.
Challenge me. Treat me like a game of checkers and play me. That's all I'm asking, just play me. Treat me like Sega and play me.
Look up the word role in the dictionary and you'll see it means playing a part. That's why I call myself a real model.
If I were a painter, you'd be calling me Shaqcasso.
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.
I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money.
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.'
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.
Why don't you bring your face up here and let me punch it? Then you can tell me (if I'm stronger).
