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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

This is why you play – to get an opportunity to play in the playoffs.

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.

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

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

Now, I am perfectly willing to just enjoy my career by choosing roles simply because I consider them to be a challenge and doing the best possible job I can.

I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another.

In the end, the best way to succeed is to go small. And when you go small, you say no – a lot. A lot more than you might have even considered before.

Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, which does nothing more than leave you with a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world.

You can either be angry for what you don’t have or thankful for what you do have. Do your best and God will do the rest.

Optimism is my best defense.

I think the best thing a parent can do, when raising a child, is simply get out of their way.