42 Quotes

Ben Chapman: Hey, Stanky, what's it like bein' a nigger's nigger?
Eddie Stanky: I dunno, Chapman, what's it like bein' a redneck piece of shit?

Movie: 42
Pee Wee Reese: Maybe tomorrow, we'll all wear 42, so nobody could tell us apart.

Movie: 42
Branch Rickey: You think God likes baseball, Herb?
Herb Pennock: What - ? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Branch Rickey: It means someday you're gonna meet God, and when he inquires as to why you didn't take the field against Robinson in Philadelphia, and you answer that it's because he was a Negro, it may not be a sufficient reply!

Movie: 42
Jackie Robinson: You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?
Branch Rickey: No. No. I want a player who's got the guts not to fight back. People aren't gonna like this. They're gonna do anything to get you to react. Echo a curse with a curse and, uh, they'll hear only yours. Follow a blow with a blow and they'll say, The Negro lost his temper. That The Negro does not belong. Your enemy will be out in force... and you cannot meet him on his own low ground. We win with hitting, running, fielding. Only that. We win if the world is convinced of two things: That you are a fine gentleman and a great baseball player. Like our Savior... you gotta have the guts... to turn the other cheek. Can you do it?
Jackie Robinson: You give me a uniform... you give me a, heh, number on my back... and I'll give you the guts.

Movie: 42
Jackie Robinson: I don't care if they like me. I didn't come here to make friends. I don't even care if they respect me. I know who I am. I've got enough respect for myself. I do not want them to beat me.
Rachel Robinson: They're never going to beat you.
Jackie Robinson: They... came close today.

Movie: 42
reporter: Whatcha gonna do if one of these pitchers throws for your head?
Jackie Robinson: I'll duck.

Movie: 42
Branch Rickey: [Referring to Jackie Robinson]He's a Methodist, I'm a Methodist... And God's a Methodist; We can't go wrong.

Movie: 42
Jackie Robinson: I don't think it matters what I believe, only what I do.

Movie: 42
Burt Shotton: When I took the Cleveland uniform off two years ago I promised the missus I'd never put on another uniform again. So the roses are beautiful and, uh, I sleep better too.
Branch Rickey: Roses and sleep are two wonderful things, Burt. But sleep you can get when you're in your casket, and flowers look great on top of it. But, uh, you don't look like a dead man to me, Burt.

Movie: 42
[last lines] Wendell Smith: [typing his news story]Robinson rounds third, headed for home sweet home.

Movie: 42
Branch Rickey: We had a victory of fascism in Germany. It's time, time we had a victory over racism at home.

Movie: 42
[from trailer] Jackie Robinson: I'm not goin' anywhere! I'm right here!

Movie: 42
Leo Durocher: If Robinson can help us win, then he is gonna play on this ball club!

Movie: 42
[from trailer] Branch Rickey: Jackie Robinson. A black man in white baseball.

Movie: 42
reporter: Baseball was proof positive that democracy was real. A baseball box score after all, is a democratic thing. It doesn't say how big you are, or what religion you follow it does not know how you voted, or the color of your skin, it simply states what kind of ballplayer you were on any particular day.

Movie: 42
Branch Rickey: It's another opening day, Harold. All future, no past.
Harold Parrott: It's a blank page, sir.

Movie: 42
[from trailer] Ben Chapman: Why don'tcha look in a mirror? This is a white man's game!

Movie: 42
Kirby Higbe: I got traded... to Pittsburgh!

Movie: 42
[Wendell speeds away from a crowd of threatening white men] Jackie Robinson: What the hell, Wendell?
Wendell Smith: A man came by while you was asleep. He said more men were coming. It might have been those fellas. Mr. Rickey said to get you to Daytona Beach ASAP.
Jackie Robinson: Why didn't you say so?
Wendell Smith: Well, Mr. Rickey was afraid you wouldn't want to leave. You'd want to stay there and fight. [Jackie starts laughing]
Wendell Smith: Man, what in the hell are you laughing at?
Jackie Robinson: I thought you woke me because, because I was cut from the team.

Movie: 42