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

I ought to break this trophy into 32 pieces

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

Life is not a spectator sport.

It's not easy to be a martyr in the field of race relations.

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

I do not believe that every person, in every walk of life, can succeed in spite of any handicap. That would be perfection. But I do believe that what I was able to attain came to be because we put behind us (no matter how slowly) the dogmas of the past: to discover the truth of today; and perhaps the greatness of tomorrow.