There may be people who have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do - and I believe that.

I love it when people doubt me. It makes me work harder to prove them wrong.

Surround yourself with good people. People who are going to be honest with you and look out for your best interests.

The last thing you want to do is finish playing or doing anything and wish you would have worked harder.

I'm not perfect; no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. I think you try to learn from those mistakes.

You're playing a game, whether it's Little League or Game 7 of the Word Series. It's impossible to do well unless you're having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there's pressure. But I just look at it as fun.

Your image isn't your character. Character is what you are as a person.

You gotta have fun. Regardless of how you look at it, we're playing a game. It's a business, it's our job, but I don't think you can do well unless you're having fun.

I voted for Obama.

My heroes, my dreams, and my future lay in Yankee Stadium. And they can't take that away from me.

What kind of influence did my parents have on my life? Well, they had the most influence. These are the people who are closest to me. My parents are very positive people. They've been supportive. They're always there.

I try to sign for as many kids as possible. Kids come first, and I'll always sign for a kid before an adult. It's funny, because I was never big into autographs as a kid. The only player who I ever wanted an autograph from was Dave Winfield.

My office is at Yankee stadium. Yes, dreams do come true.

You can't be sensitive, because you're going to get criticized. I don't care who you are, you're going to get criticized.

I'm not a hermit, but I definitely stay in a lot more than I used to. There's more attention now then there ever was. You walk down the street with someone and it's a story. It becomes national news, you know what I mean? So, I still do things, but I stay home a lot more.

You hear about women buying shoes? I buy DVDs. I definitely have a problem.

God, I hope I wear this jersey forever.

I've been asked to sign a forehead.

So many people are insanely busy nowadays, and it's easy to say, 'Ah, I'll workout tomorrow.' But you have to set aside a time and stick to that schedule.

I attribute much of my success in New York to my ability to understand and avoid unnecessary distractions.

The Yankees have strict rules. You can have a mustache but no other facial hair.

I like to dance and sing when there's no one around, but, if I'm out, I'm really shy about it. So it takes a lot to get me going, but I enjoy being around music.

That's how you win - pitching and defense.

Kids are our future.

The draft is a crapshoot, so I've been very fortunate to be drafted by the Yankees, and to have spent my whole career here.

I think when things linger, that's when they become a distraction. I don't want any distractions.

For me, when I was a kid, volunteering was the last thing I was thinking about. When I see kids doing it now, it amazes me. It's very impressive, it gives them something productive to do as opposed to getting in trouble. For them to take time out at such a young age is remarkable. I think all kids should take a little time out to volunteer.

You have to assume that everything you do is public knowledge. Everything. Because now everyone is a reporter. Everyone is a photographer.

I'm very, very competitive. If my grandmother asks to race me down the street, I'm going to try to beat her. And I'll probably enjoy it!

You don't just accidentally show up in the World Series.

I always take criticism as a challenge. It's the way I've always looked at it.

I've always been very cautious with what I do. You know, that started at a young age. I always had the approach or the mentality I never wanted to embarrass my parents.

I looked up to my parents because they were very successful in what they wanted to do. I was lucky; I didn't have to look far for role models.

I've been playing baseball since I was 5 or 6 years old. I've been on a schedule, pretty much, since I was in eighth, ninth grade. I look forward to not doing that.

I hate the treadmill. I hate it. You really don't have to be on it that long, something like 20 or 30 minutes. It's all about getting your heart rate up.

I always appreciated the ex-players. Being a Yankee, you get spoiled. Old-Timers Day, all these guys coming back, spring training, being around them, you get a chance to get to know them. So I always think you learn a lot by listening.

You're a person a lot longer before and after you're a professional athlete. People always say to me, 'Your image is this, your image is that.' Your image isn't your character. Character is what you are as a person. That's what I worry about.

When I was younger, I was always taught not to make excuses.

I think sometimes people need to get used to an idea.

It's never over. You don't want to be in the position to be down four runs in the ninth inning, but it's not over until the last out.

If I put my name on something, I'm going to be involved. I'm not just going to put my name on it and not pay attention.

I think there's something wrong with me - I like to win in everything I do, regardless of what it is. You want to race down the street, I want to beat you. If we're playing checkers, I want to win. You beat me, it's going to bother me. I just enjoy competition.

I think everyone is ticklish. You just gotta find the right spots.

I wish I trusted people more. But when I meet someone, the first thing is, 'What does this person want?' And I put up a defense mechanism. But I've always been that way.

Sometimes people complicate things by thinking too much about what someone might think of what they said or did.

Athletics keeps us healthy, gets us up and running around. It also gives you an opportunity to meet a lot of different people, which is very important.

Any player that says they don't want to go to an All-Star Game is lying to you. It's something everyone wants to be a part of.

You gotta have fun.

You can't quantify everything a player does to win games.

My dreams do not end with playing Major League Baseball.

I want to have a family.

My dad had been shortstop when he was in college, and you know, when you're a kid, you want to be just like your dad.

We just want to win. That's the bottom line. I think a lot of times people may become content with one championship or a little bit of success, but we don't really reflect on what we've done in the past. We focus on the present.

I think, a lot of times, players get in trouble when they're asked questions and they think they have to find a way to answer it. If you ask me a question and I say, 'I don't know,' there's really no follow-up.

If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose.

When you put a lot of hard work into one goal and you achieve it, that's a really good feeling.

Walking around sometimes, I would love to just be able to watch people, see how they act. Sometimes I would love to be invisible.

I have feelings. I'm not emotionally stunted.

I remember going from rookie ball to A, to double A, then to triple A. At every level it seemed like the game was faster. The bigger the situation, the more the game speeds up. That's all mental. It messes people up.

I'm a New Yorker now, and believe me, there's no comparison between the Big Apple and Kalamazoo, no similarity at all. New York City's hectic, always in fast-forward, and Kalamazoo's more laid-back, smaller, slower.