It's nice to come into a town and be referred to as the manager of the Cleveland Indians instead of as the first black manager.

Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.

Be anything you want to be, but don't be dull.

Whether you're trying to excel in athletics or in any other field, always practice. Look, listen, learn - and practice, practice, practice. There is no substitute for work, no shortcut to the top.

I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be.

I don't see why you reporters keep confusing Brooks (Robinson) and me. Can't you see that we wear different numbers.

If the guys on the bench were as good as the guys you have out there, they'd be out there in first place.

Managers don't have as much leverage as they used to have. We can't really be the boss.

I had no trouble communicating, the player's just didn't like what I had to say.

The fan is the one who suffers. He cheers a guy to a .350 season then watches that player sign with another team. When you destroy fan loyalties, you destroy everything.

You have to have a short memory as a closer.

The Highest Holy Heavens!

Struggles are part of everyday life. May you have grace to overcome any struggle.

In war there is no second prize for the runner-up.

It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination.

That guy in a twenty-five cent bleacher seat is as much entitled to know a call as the guy in the boxes. He can see my arm signal even if he can't hear my voice.

All that matters is that the thing be the thing of the thing.

The key is that I control my life; my life doesn't control me.

Television is a great leveler. You always end up sounding like the people who ask the questions.

Literary characters, like my grandmother's apparitions, are fragile beings, easily frightened; they must be treated with care so they will feel comfortable in my pages

Man errs not that he deems His welfare his true aim, He errs because he dreams The world does but exist that welfare to bestow.