The Best Jackie Robinson Quotes

Jackie: I don't care if they like me. I didn't come here to make friends. I don't even care if they respect me. I know who I am. I've got enough respect for myself. I do not want them to beat me.
Rachel: They're never going to beat you.
Jackie: They... came close today.

[from trailer]
Jackie: I'm not goin' anywhere! I'm right here!

reporter: Whatcha gonna do if one of these pitchers throws for your head?
Jackie: I'll duck.

Jackie: You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?
Branch: No. No. I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back. People aren't gonna like this. They're gonna do anything to get you to react. Echo a curse with a curse and, uh, they'll hear only yours. Follow a blow with a blow and they'll say, "The Negro lost his temper." That "The Negro does not belong." Your enemy will be out in force... and you cannot meet him on his own low ground. We win with hitting, running, fielding. Only that. We win if the world is convinced of two things: That you are a fine gentleman and a great baseball player. Like our Savior... you gotta have the guts... to turn the other cheek. Can you do it?
Jackie: You give me a uniform... you give me a, heh, number on my back... and I'll give you the guts.

[after Jackie smashes his bat in the dugout tunnel, Rickey approaches him]
Jackie: The next white son of a bitch who opens his mouth, I'll smash his goddamn teeth in.
Branch: You can't, Jackie. You know it.
Jackie: I'm supposed to let this go on?
Branch: These men have to live with themselves...
Jackie: I have to live with myself, too! And right now I'm living a sermon out there.
Branch: You don't matter right now, Jack. You're in this thing. You don't have the right to pull out from the backing of people who believe in you, respect you and who need you.
Jackie: Is that so?
Branch: If you fight, they won't say Chapman forced you to; they'll just say that you're over your head. That you belong where you are.
Jackie: Do you know what it's like, having someone do this to you?
Branch: No. No. You do. You're the one living the sermon. In the wilderness. Forty days. All of it. Only you.
Jackie: And not a damn thing I can do about it.
Branch: Of course there is! You can stand up and hit! You can get on base and you can score! You can win this game for us! We need you! Everyone needs you.
[the players are moving above]
Jackie: They're taking the field.
Branch: Who's playing first?
Jackie: [beat] I'm gonna need a new bat.

Jackie: I don't think it matters what I believe, only what I do.

[Wendell speeds away from a crowd of threatening white men]
Jackie: What the hell, Wendell?
Wendell: A man came by while you was asleep. He said more men were coming. It might have been those fellas. Mr. Rickey said to get you to Daytona Beach ASAP.
Jackie: Why didn't you say so?
Wendell: Well, Mr. Rickey was afraid you wouldn't want to leave. You'd want to stay there and fight.
[Jackie starts laughing]
Wendell: Man, what in the hell are you laughing at?
Jackie: I thought you woke me because, because I was cut from the team.

Mr. Brock: Well, the wife's inside cookin'. You know what she asked me? She asked me this mornin', "What do you serve when a hero comes to dinner?"
Jackie: Um, Mr. Brock, I'm just a ball player.
Mr. Brock: Oh no no, you tell that to the little colored boys playin' baseball in Florida today. To them, you a hero.