"I lost money, coaching jobs, a shot at the Hall of Fame."

"I'm a human being I'm not a piece of property. I am not a consignment of goods."

"I was leaving probably one of the greatest organizations in hte world at that time for what was probably one of the least like, and, by God, this is America."

"People try to make a Greek tragedy of my life, and they can't do it. I'm too happy."

"All the grand work was laid for people who came after me. The Supreme Court decided not to give it to me, so they gave it to two white guys. I think that's what they were waiting for."

"I'll also say, yes, I think the change in black consciuosness in recent years has made me more sensitive to injustice in every area of my life."

"Customary though it may be to write about that institutionalized pastime as though it existed apart from the general environment, my story does not lend itself to such treatment."

"But I want you to know that what I'm doing here I'm doing as a ballplayer, a major league ballplayer."

"Remember when I told you about the American dream? That if you worked hard enough and tried hard enough and kicked yourself in the butt, you'd succeed? Well, I think I did, I think I did."

"If you destroyed the underpinnings of this great American sport, you are a hated, ugly, detestable person."

"I'm a child of the sixties, I'm a man of the sixties. During that period of time this country was coming apart at the seams. We were in Southeast Asia. Good men were dying for America and for the Constitution."

"I was told by the general manager that a white player had received a higher raise than me. Because white people required more money to live than black people. That is why I wasn't going to get a raise."