Derek Jeter Quotes

The longer you wait to decide what you want to do, the more time you're wasting. It's up to you to want something so badly that your passion shows through in your actions. Your actions, not your words, will do the shouting for you.

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

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

When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!

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.

It doesn't feel different being here (at the All-Star Game) I feel like I'm on an All-Star team everyday.

I'm not one to sit around and be satisfied about something. I can always get better.

I can see how people work out to feel better.

I've always been uncomfortable, so to speak, when the focus is on me.

I want to have a family.

I've always been very aware of what I'm saying, but I'm also aware of what you're saying. I always want to make sure that my point is clear.

Winning is one of the most special moments. Every time I take the field it's a special moment. The fans are the ones that make it special. Because that's what we do it for.

There's responsibility, but there's also accountability. You have to be accountable for your actions. You have to stand at your locker when things are going bad.

It doesn't seem like the season really gets under way until you have your home opener

Handle yourself like a professional on the field and you have one goal-and that's to win.

You've got to make adjustments as you get older.

God, I hope I wear this jersey forever.

If you're going to win games, you're going to have to come up with the big hits. That's the bottom line.

I always try to take from past performances. You never try to get too high or too low. Just play every game, just treat every game like it's the same.

I play in New York, man. Criticism is part of the game. You take criticism as a challenge.

Nine games? It's too long.

That's how you win - pitching and defense.

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.

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've hung out and dated people I've never even met before.

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

The great thing about being a Yankee is that youre always a Yankee.

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.

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

I voted for Obama.

Everyone fears rejection.

I always hear people say I give the same answers or I don't give you much. No, I just don't give you much negativity. When people are negative a lot, it starts to creep into your mind, and then you start having doubts, and I don't like that. If there's another way, show me. My job is to stay positive. My job is to limit distractions. And if you get annoyed by that, I don't expect you to understand because you're not in my shoes.

Not everybody's a baseball fan.

It doesn't take any talent to play hard.

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

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.

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

I think it comes easy to work hard. I was always taught, don't short-change yourself. Keep working to get better.

I try to stay as private as possible; I know that's difficult, especially playing here in New York, but I make an attempt at it.

I like to hit the gym early in the morning. I feel better throughout the day when I get in a workout first thing in the morning.

My dreams do not end with playing Major League Baseball.

I can have fun anywhere, as long as I'm with good people. But in the offseason, I like to go somewhere warm, a nice spot in the Caribbean.

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

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

I go into every game thinking I'm going to be the hero. I have to, or I wouldn't enjoy it.

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.

Every body has a tickle spot, somtimes you just have to find it.

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.

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

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

I get asked enough questions, I try not to ask too many questions.

Good teams make the playoffs, hot teams win the playoffs.

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

Work hard, love what you do, put your best foot forward and never forget the kid in you.

No former player has owned a team in baseball.

Obviously, you're known for what you do. But you still want to be known as a good person. You're a person a lot longer before and after you're a professional athlete.

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.

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

My parents always felt if I worked hard enough I could make any dream come true.

I want to play every day. This year will be absolutely no different.

I'd like to get a degree. You ever see the movie 'Back to School?' I'll go back with my kids.

The first thing to know about playing baseball in Michigan is, Michigan's really cold.

The thing that means the most to me is being remembered as a Yankee, because that's what I've always wanted to be, was to be a Yankee.

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

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 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.

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

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.

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.

Don't get me wrong; it's not like I didn't go out and have fun. But there's been a lot of players that come to New York and get caught up in the lifestyle, and before you know it, they're sent away to another team because it affected their performance.

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

You tell me you want to race down the street, I'm going to try to beat you. My grandmother asks me to race down the street, I'm going to try to beat her. And I'll probably enjoy it. Competitive to a fault, sometimes.

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 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.

So is work ethic. You do things over and over again, and when you get in a situation you like to think it comes natural. I think there has to be a mind-set that you're not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to fail. I've done it quite a bit. The calmer you are, the more the game slows down for you, and I think part of that is controlling your emotions.

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

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.

Our fans don't want to see us win the Wild Card. They want to see us win the division.

The big difference for me is that, as I get older, I find it's a lot easier to stay in shape than it is to get back in shape.

I've always had an interest in business, and my interest in business has really expanded over the years.

It took him 75 steps to get from third to home. I thought we were going to have to go out there and help him. A lot of players start thinking double then maybe wind up with a triple because the outfielder slips.

Defense usually doesn't make many headlines, but it goes a long way towards winning baseball games. There are a number of ways to make an impact during the course of a game, and playing solid, sound defense is one of them.

I get nervous watching teammates. I get nervous for them. Late in the game, pressure situation, I'm nervous for them.

I always have tried to treat people with respect, the way I want to be treated.

You have to be confident, if you're not confident you might as well go home.

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.

If I'm shifted two steps toward third base and the ball goes up the middle, people say I have no range to my left. That's why those statistics aren't accurate. You're changing for every batter, sometimes with every pitch. You really can't make one statistic for every shortstop. You have to go by what you see.

The Yankees have twenty-five heroes.

The one thing I always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward.

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

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.

As long as I'm having fun I'm going to play.

Yankee Stadium is my favorite stadium; I'm not going to lie to you. There's a certain feel you get in Yankee Stadium.

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.