I was hurting. I had some ailments I was dealing with. It's not like I was holding out.

I can still play this game at a high level; I've proven that. I want to be home. I want to be close to my family. I want to be close to my foundation and my business interests.

I was hurting. I had some ailments I was dealing with. It's not like I was holding out.

I've got to worry about Alonzo Mourning, because a year or two ago there was a chance that Alonzo Mourning wouldn't be standing here talking to you. That's the cold reality of it.

Once my doctor began treating my kidney disease, my greatest challenge was the constant exhaustion. Fortunately, my doctor explained that anemia was causing my exhaustion and that people with serious illnesses, like kidney disease, may be at increased risk for anemia.

There's a disappointment there because I still feel there's an emptiness in my career that just wasn't filled.

I want to live 50 more years. I'm 33 years old... and I want to live to at least be 80 and see my kids grow up and see my grandkids. That's important to me.

When the new ownership came in, they made some decisions I wasn't pleased with. And when they changed the whole aspect of it, I just totally lost interest.

A win is a win, regardless of how you look at it.

I am reaching a point in my life where the basketball chapter in my life is slowly closing from a competition standpoint.

I feel like in America, we don't have a kid problem. You think about all these issues that these kids are dealing with, we have an adult problem. We have adults that do not place the priority on our kids to get a valuable education.

I feel that each and every one of us as individuals has a responsibility to one another. None of us would be here without the help of someone else - whether it be guardians, teachers, parents, relatives, etc. - someone contributed to your well being as a person. We're all connected in so many different ways.

I had individuals in my life to help me make the right decisions because it wasn't about them accepting handouts. It was about them making the right decisions for me.

I had to develop the mentality and stay positive about making my comeback.

I have an incredible amount of basketball knowledge, and I think a lot of that is derived from having a Hall of Fame college basketball coach who was very knowledgeable of the game and I had a great high school coach who was also very knowledgeable.

I know that all good things must come to an end and I've had an incredible ride. I just want to end it on the right note.

I listen to myself, I listen to my body, my mind; I follow my heart.

I think in every lesson there's a blessing, and there's so many blessings from all the lessons I've had to go through in life.

I'm excited about what the future will bring and I think the best is yet to come.

I've got to make some decisions just like any other player that has ever played this game, that eventually the clock stops, their basketball clock stops.

If I would have listened to other people back in 2000 telling me I should have stopped playing basketball because of a kidney disease, I wouldn't have won a world championship.

If we all make a concerted effort and try to improve the life of someone else, then this world would be a better place to live in.

My health is the No. 1 concern and my longevity is the No. 1 concern.

So many people feel that once you reach a certain age then it's time for you to retire from a sport you love. I don't think that's true at all. I think age should not dictate that.

There's nobody else on the face of this earth that's playing a sport at a highest level... with a transplant. That alone continues to inspire me, because I realize throughout the whole world the struggles that people are going through. I need to inspire them the best way I can.

Tough times don't last, but tough people do. And I've been through some tough times, and I know a lot of people can recall tough times, and maybe are going through some tough times right now, but they don't last.

You can play a particular sport as long as you take good care of your body and you're confident enough and still have that hunger to where you want to be a part of an organization, a group of individuals where you feel you can contribute to the success of that team.

It's very important to prioritize. I know, for me, my family comes first. That makes every decision very easy.

It is well that the earth is round that we do not see too far ahead.

It is only the great hearted who can be true friends. The mean and cowardly, Can never know what true friendship means.

Babe and I are both great television fans, and we've been planning to do something on TV. But we certainly never intended to start out on an unrehearsed network show!

In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer.

While we can all access articles and information in so many places now - across blogs, in newspapers, on video - there is something very powerful about putting it all together into an edited format in a single issue that has a narrative stretching across the themes.

The key is within each of us. No instructions come with it.

I like to go out if there's a party or go to the movies, but I just like hanging out with my buddies and having a good time.

Civil disobedience is not accepted by religion and the state does not accept it and there are many verses in the Holy Book that talk of following the ruler.

The foundation of collectivism is simple: There should be no important economic differences among people. No one should be too rich.

The death of Pope John Paul II led many of different faiths and of no faith to acknowledge their debt to the Roman Catholic Church for holding on to absolutes that the rest of us can measure ourselves against.

Writing is an incredibly creatively empowering experience for me. It is the place where nobody tries to control what I'm doing.

The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns we decent law abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will loose.

Our goal is to make Maine the healthiest state in the nation and reduce our overall health care costs.

I got into this business because I like acting and I want to make movies. I would be happy living the rest of my life never famous.

When I got to college, as I was walking across campus one day, I ripped off a little flyer for this sketch-comedy group. It ended up being one of the greatest things I've ever done.

Gluttony might be innocuous were it not for the fact that gluttons tend to disregard whether their self-serving behaviors harm anyone else. We don't need to look far and wide to find examples of gluttonous behavior, as they are numerous throughout the history of capitalism.

Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.

Faith is not a rational thing, and yet to understand the universe, rationality alone will not give it to us. Our understanding of the universe must transcend the rational.

Contemporary Britain seems an endlessly fascinating place to me - but if I knew a little bit more about other places, and other times, maybe it wouldn't.

Whatever dreams I have wished have come true.

Some things you just don't get over.