Some day I'm going to have to stand before God, and if He asks me why I didn't let that [Jackie] Robinson fellow play ball, I don't think saying 'because of the color of his skin' would be a good enough answer.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the moral responsibility to overcome prejudice and injustice.
Branch Rickey's quote signifies the weight of ethical decisions in the face of discrimination. It emphasizes the importance of combatting racism and making choices that align with justice and equality, particularly in the context of allowing individuals to pursue their passions and talents without being hindered by societal biases based on race. The quote serves as a reminder of the accountability each person has when making decisions that affect others' lives, especially in terms of opportunity and recognition.
In practice
During a panel discussion on social justice, I might quote Branch Rickey to highlight the importance of equality in sports.
I don't like the subtle infiltration of 'something for nothing' philosophies into the very hearthstone of the American family. I believe that 'Thou shalt earn the bread by the sweat of thy face' was a benediction and not a penalty. Work is the zest of life; there is joy in its pursuit.
There never has been a man in the game who could put mind and muscle together quicker and with better judgment than Robinson.
Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.
Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day.
Luck is the residue of opportunity and design.
It (a baseball box score) doesn't tell how big you are, what church you attend, what color you are, or how your father voted in the last election. It just tells what kind of baseball player you were on that particular day.
At birth, we emerge from dream soup. At death, we sink back into dream soup. In between soups, there is a crossing of dry land. Life is a portage.
Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes.
I stood staring, not as yet realising that this was death leaping from man to man in that little distant crowd.
Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.
It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.
Solitary confinement is too terrible a punishment to inflict on any human being, no matter what his crime. Hardened criminals in the men's prisons, it is said, often beg for the lash instead.
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