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Baseball reveals character; golf exposes it.
Ernie Banks
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When I wake up in the morning, I feel like a billionaire without paying taxes.
Ernie Banks
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It was about 105 degrees in Chicago. And that's a time when everybody gets tired. I came into the clubhouse, and everybody was sitting around, and I said, 'Beautiful day. Let's play two!' And everybody looked at me like I was crazy. There were a couple of writers around, and they wrote that, and it stayed with me.
Ernie Banks
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I learned from Mr. Wrigley, early in my career, that loyalty wins and it creates friendships. I saw it work for him in his business.
Ernie Banks
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I don't try to hit home runs. I just try to meet the ball and get base hits.
Ernie Banks
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Work? I never worked a day in my life. I always loved what I was doing, had a passion for it.
Ernie Banks
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You must try to generate happiness within yourself. If you aren't happy in one place, chances are you won't be happy anyplace.
Ernie Banks
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But it all comes down to friendship, treating people right.
Ernie Banks
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That's a real void in my life. I see a lot of people who struggled and went to jail and the dogs were after them. I'd look them in the eyes and say, 'God almighty, I wish I'd have been there.'
Ernie Banks
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Mr. Wrigley believed in this: Put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket. They don't do that today. This is the old-fashioned way I'm talking about. He carried it on to his business. Do one thing and stay with it.
Ernie Banks
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People ask me a lot about the values I got from playing for the Cubs for so many years. The value I got out of it was patience. A lot of people these days are not very patient.
Ernie Banks
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It's a beautiful day for a ballgame... Let's play two!
Ernie Banks
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It would be a lot different for me because there is a lot of information that you need to know about as a player. How pitchers are pitching you, how defenses are playing, certain situations about certain pitchers.
Ernie Banks
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Awards mean a lot, but they don't say it all. The people in baseball mean more to me than statistics.
Ernie Banks
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The Cubs are gonna shine in sixty-nine.
Ernie Banks
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Loyalty and friendship, which is to me the same, created all the wealth that I've ever thought I'd have.
Ernie Banks
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Some people feel that because you are black you will never be treated fairly, and that you should voice your opinions, be militant about them. I don't feel this way. You can't convince a fool against his will.
Ernie Banks
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Everybody believed you had to have a big piece of lumber and then muscle the ball over the fence. But by the time I and Hank Aaron - another guy who did it with his wrists - were through, there were a lot of guys ordering light bats and playing handball.
Ernie Banks
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The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money.
Ernie Banks
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I meet a lot of people that grew up with my career and have retired, and I just want to talk to them. I like to get a feeling from them, a feeling of the old times.
Ernie Banks
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We lived near a supermarket, and whatever they threw away, we would get it, and my mother would make soup. Or she would get a big can of lard, a big can of meal, a big can of flour, a big can of beans, and fix the same meal for months.
Ernie Banks
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Another friend hired me to open doors for him in the moving and relocation business. I did that for 10 years, am still doing it. And I do some work for the Cubs, in community relations.
Ernie Banks
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I guess my critics say, 'He must be crazy. Nothing can be that beautiful.' But when you think that there are so many people around the world who have nothing, you realize how lucky you are to be making a living in the big leagues.
Ernie Banks
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I'd like to get to the last game of the World Series at Wrigley Field and hit three homers. That was what I always wanted to do.
Ernie Banks
