You're going to be a great player, kid.

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.

I don't think that I or any other Negro, as an American citizen, should have to ask for anything that is rightfully his. We are demanding that we just be given the things that are rightfully ours and that we're not looking for anything else.

Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life.

This ain't fun. But you watch me, I'll get it done.

The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time.

Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he's losing; nobody wants you to quit when you're ahead.