It's not like I'm an introvert. You get to know me, I can have a conversation with you. But in front of the media, I'm probably more of a quiet guy.

Sometimes it's more fun to compete with your friends, because you can talk a little trash with them.

I want to be on that team that wins the world championship here in Chicago and sees the city go crazy.

If they watch me play, people will say I'm not into it or whatever. That's okay. I kind of like it. People don't know how much work I'm putting into it. They don't need to know.

Defense is something I take pride in. I feel it's just as important as offense. They should have RBIs for defensive plays.

As a first baseman, hitting home runs is what's expected of me. But I don't really try to hit home runs.

I miss basketball every now and then.

I felt I was good in basketball but I wasn't a blue-chip prospect.

You just get better with age. You learn yourself and the league. I'm starting to understand more about hitting every year.

If you write in the paper 'Lee stinks,' that's not going to affect me. I'll just laugh. And if you write 'Derrek Lee is the best player in the league,' that won't affect me either. I'll laugh.

The chance to go to the postseason, it's hard to pass up.

People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are.

It is either you control your thoughts or be controlled by them.

I think that in today's world, by nature, we are all self-centered. And that often leads to selfishness.

As soon as I began, it seemed impossible to write fast enough - I wrote faster than I would write a letter - two thousand to three thousand words in a morning, and I cannot help it.

You can have rules at home that are different from the rest of the world's as long as you're not hurting anyone.

Let this be a lesson to us all, said the preacher. You will be walking someday in the dark and the truth will come shining through, and behind you will be a life that you never want to see again.

You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls.

I left hating the game of football…I never ever wanted to play football after that and I kind of rode off into the sunset.

I'd hate to see any descendants of mine fall into the category of what I'd call 'idle rich' - a group I've never had much use for.

How can you tell drops not to fall when rain exists.... How can you tell leaves not to fall when wind exist.... And how can you tell me not to fall in love when you exist...