Derek Jeter quotes:

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

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

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

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

My dreams do not end with playing Major League Baseball.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Kids are our future.

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

During the off-season, I go to the movies almost every day.

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

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.

My best vacation is somewhere I could hide, somewhere warm and not a lot of people around.

I always used to get in trouble for talking too much. When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Not everybody's a baseball fan.

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

You know what I want to do? Wake up one weekend and not have to go anywhere and do nothing.

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

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.

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.

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

There's feelings there, but I think I've just been pretty good at trying to hide my emotions throughout the years. I try to have the same demeanor each and every day.

No former player has owned a team in baseball.

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

I can see how people work out to feel better.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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

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

God, I hope I wear this jersey forever.

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

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.

I have the greatest job in the world. Only one person can have it. You have shortstops on other teams - I'm not knocking other teams - but there's only one shortstop on the Yankees.

During the offseason, I go to the movies almost every day. You hear about women buying shoes? I buy DVDs. I definitely have a problem.

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.

That's how you win - pitching and defense.

This is why you play -- to get an opportunity to play in the playoffs,

I have feelings. I'm not emotionally stunted.

I went to school on Senior Skip Day.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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'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.

I voted for Obama.

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

I've found that it's easier to stay in shape than it is to get into shape.

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

It doesn't take any talent to play hard.

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

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

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.

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.

Everyone fears rejection.

You know, what is team chemistry? My opinion is when you have enough people who care about winning and enough people who losing affects. That's what chemistry means to me. It doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win, but you're going to have enough people on the same page. It's almost impossible, I think, to get everyone on the same page, but it's gotta mean something to you.

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

In my opinion, I've had the greatest job in the world. I got a chance to be the shortstop for the New York Yankees, and there's only one of those. And I always felt as though it was my job, was to try to provide joy and entertainment for you guys, but it can't compare to what you brought me. So for that, thank you very much.

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

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've been lying to you guys for a long time, saying I wasn't nervous and there's no pressure. There was a lot of pressure to do it here.

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

In order to lead people, you have to get to know them.

You forget about it whether it was 15-2 or 3-2. It's still a loss. It doesn't matter what the score was if we win tomorrow.

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.

You have to take the good with the bad. Some players only talk to the press when they are doing good. When you're doing bad you shouldn't shy away from them and when doing good, don't run up to them.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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 never think about my own stats, as long as I'm contributing to the team.

A lot of teams, I think, are just happy to make the post-season. Here, you have to win.

Nine games? It's too long.

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

One of the best things about being a Yankee is that you have guys like Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, Ron Guidry and Reggie Jackson wandering around the locker room offering you advice.

Sportswriters are what make sports great and fun to watch.

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

The only legacy I want is to be thought of as a winner.

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

The guy's (Shane Spencer) ridiculous. No one hits home runs like that. I'm telling you, man, it's ridiculous.

It doesn't take talent to work hard.

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