“Blacks have had to learn to protect themselves by being cynical but no...” — Jackie Robinson Quote

“Blacks have had to learn to protect themselves by being cynical but not cynical enough to slam the door on potential opportunities. We go through life walking a tightrope to prevent too much disillusionment.”

“The way I figured it, I was even with baseball and baseball with me. The game had done much for me, and I had done much for it.”

“How you played in yesterday's game is all that counts.”

“A lot of racism is paternalism. A lot of people hide their own racism because they treat blacks, minorities and other groups like children because deep down they feel superior and better than these people. And they don't feel like they should just treat a guy like a guy.”

“Whites know never tell blacks what you really think and what you really feel because you risk being seen as a racist. And the result of that is that to a degree, we as blacks live in a bubble. Nobody tells us the truth. Nobody tells us what they would do if they were in our situation. Nobody really helps us.”