Branch Rickey

The greatest untapped reservoir of raw material in the history of our game is the black race.

Man may penetrate the outer reaches of the universe, he may solve the very secret of eternity itself, but for me the ultimate human experience is to witness the flawless execution of the hit-and-run.

How to use your leisure time is the biggest problem of a ballplayer.

Baseball people, and that includes myself, are slow to change and accept new ideas. I remember that it took years to persuade them to put numbers on uniforms.

Problems are the price you pay for progress.

A great ballplayer is a player who will take a chance.

Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.

Thinking about the devil is worse than seeing the devil.

If things don't come easy, there is no premium on effort. There should be joy in the chase, zest in the pursuit.

Never surrender opportunity for security.

Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day.

All I had was natural ability.

Luck is the residue of design.

I find fault with my children because I like them and I want them to go places - uprightness and strength and courage and civil respect and anything that affects the probabilities of failure on the part of those that are closest to me, that concerns me - I find fault.

Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game.

Baseball is a game of inches.

The man with the ball is responsible for what happens to the ball.

A full mind is an empty bat.

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.

Only in baseball can a team player be a pure individualist first and a team player second, within the rules and spirit of the game.

I don't care if I was a ditch-digger at a dollar a day, I'd want to do my job better than the fellow next to me. I'd want to be the best at whatever I do.

Leisure is the handmaiden of the devil.

Dont look at the hole in the doughnut. Look at the whole doughnut.

It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind.