There`s not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.

Pop flies, in a sense, are just a diversion for a second baseman. Grounders are his stock trade.

Above anything else, I hate to lose.

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

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

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.

It kills me to lose. If I`m a troublemaker, and I don`t think that my temper makes me one, then it`s because I can`t stand losing. That`s the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first.

How you played in yesterday`s game is all that counts.

The way I figured it, I was even with baseball and baseball with me. The game had done much for me, and I had done much for it.

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.

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.

I guess you`d call me an independent, since I`ve never identified myself with one party or another in politics. I always decide my vote by taking as careful a look as I can at the actual candidates and issues themselves, no matter what the party label.