Quotes About Perseverance

It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.

It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.

It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course

baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course...

I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you're inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something you've never seen before. If they do, I'm still looking for it.

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.

History has a way of doing that. People appreciate it more the longer it lasts.

I have always felt that although someone may defeat me, and I strike out in a ball game, the pitcher on the particular day was the best player. But I know when I see him again, I'm going to be ready for his curve ball. Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it.

I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.

Most of all, I pray that no one ever again, in any walk of life, has to go through what I did.

Baseball is a lot like the ivy-covered wall of Wrigley Field--it gives off a great appearance, but when you run into it, you discover the bricks underneath. At times, it seems that we're dealing with a group of men who aren't much different than others we've all run into over the years, except they wear neckties instead of robes and hoods.

Didn't come up here to read. Came up here to hit.

I tell young people -- including my granddaughter -- there is no short cut in life. You have to take it one step at a time and work hard. And you have to give back.

The most important thing in my career out of the 23 years I played is I never struck out 100 times. Getting the base hits was the greatest thrill of my life.

Roger Maris lost his hair the season he hit sixty-one, I still have all my hair, but when it's over, I'm going home to Mobile and fish for a long time.

The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most with the home runs he hit. So as long as there's a chance that maybe I can hammer out a little justice now and then, or a little opportunity here and there, I intend to do as I always have -- keep swinging.

The only thing I can say is that I had a rough time with it. I don't talk about it much. It still hurts a little bit inside, because I think it has chipped away at a part of my life that I will never have again. I didn't enjoy myself. It was hard for me to enjoy something that I think I worked very hard for. God had given me the ability to play baseball, and people in this country kind of chipped away at me. So, it was tough. And all of those things happened simply because I was a black person.

Once the record was mine, I had to use it like a Louisville Slugger. I believed, and still do, that there was a reason why I was chosen to break the record. I feel it's my task to carry on where Jackie Robinson left off, and I only know of one way to go about it. It's the only way I've ever had of dealing with things like fastballs and bigotry -- keep swinging at them.

There wasn't much white people would allow us to do in those days. You could be a schoolteacher or an athlete to get away from the manual labor and servant-type jobs, but there wasn't much else they were going to allow you [to] do.

I got a thrill out of the home run that won the pennant, and when I hit No. 500, and I thought this would mean something extra special to me ... I felt good all day long, until Rose tied the game. Losing just took the edge off of it. It's just another home run.

No matter what happens the rest of my life, I don't think I'll ever hit another home run. So wherever people want to rank me is fine.

You've got to remember, the older you get the slower you get. I've seen a lot of players get old ... if I can have a good season in 1972 and come back with another good one, well, that's different. I might not quit. But two bad ones back to back and staying home would be written on the wall.

I think [Colin Kaepernick] is getting a raw deal. I've been watching pro ball a long time, and if you look at all the quarterbacks in the league right now. I think you have to say he is 1-2-3-4 ... I don't think anybody can do the things he can do. I just wish somebody would open up and give him a chance to do this thing and say hey, he's entitled to whatever he did, and let's forget about it. Let's get on with it.

I thought my chances to make the Braves were better and that they were being fairer to me, paying me more money to play in a lower classification ... Besides, the Giants spelled my name "Arron" on their telegram.