Jackie Robinson

I never backed down from a challenge.

I refused to be a victim.

We must never give up hope.

I was just a man who played baseball, but I was also a man who stood up for what was right.

Every time I stepped onto that field, I knew I was representing more than just myself.

Courage is a quality that is essential to any man who would succeed in life.

I was a fighter, and I never gave up.

The struggle for civil rights is a long and arduous one, but it is a struggle that we must win.

I believe in the power of education to change lives.

I had to fight hard against loneliness, abuse, and the knowledge that any mistakes I made would be magnified because I was the only black man out there.

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

I don't think I'm a celebrity. I'm just a man who had the chance to do some good.

I'm not a very good speaker, but I can hit a baseball.

I'd be willing to trade all my fame and the home run record for one more chance to step up to bat in the major leagues.

I don't think there's a person in this country who could look at a black boy and a white boy and say that one is going to be more successful than the other. I'd be willing to bet on the black boy.

It isn't important that I get an even break. It is important that I get a break, and it is important that I get a break that is fair.

I'm not out to make friends, I'm out to get my job done.

The way I figured it, I was a black man in a white man's world. I had to make my own way.

Baseball is a game of inches.

I believe in the American way, and I believe in American ideals, and I believe in the American people.