Top 30 Mariano Rivera Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “If you don’t control your emotions, your emotions will control your acts, and that’s not good.”

— Mariano Rivera

2. “I like a calm life where nobody bothers me.”

— Mariano Rivera

3. “I get over bad games right away. Sometimes I’ve let it go even before I’ve left the mound. That quick. Why? Because it’s over. What can you do about it? Nothing. The only thing you can do is fight if you’re still in the game. After that you can do nothing.”

— Mariano Rivera

4. “Don’t worry about what the people say; be yourself, say what you want to say WITH respect.”

— Mariano Rivera

5. “God is good for everybody. The sun shines on good people and bad people, and it rains on both, too. God doesn’t choose rain only for bad people.”

— Mariano Rivera

6. “I don’t wait for people to give me respect. I always give them respect.”

— Mariano Rivera

7. “Fishing is a hard job. Fishing at night. Rain. Day, night. You have to be wise and smart. And quick.”

— Mariano Rivera

8. “I don’t just think regular season. I think playoffs. World Series. That’s how I think.”

— Mariano Rivera

9. “I am not a father who wants to give his kids everything. They have to earn it.”

— Mariano Rivera

10. “I don’t think any professional accepts defeat.”

— Mariano Rivera

11. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

— Mariano Rivera

12. “I have nothing to ask for, thanks to God. Everything I have, God has given me.”

— Mariano Rivera

13. “My father was strict and always taught me, no matter who it is, everybody is an uncle. To me, everybody was someone I respect like family. I grew up with that.”

— Mariano Rivera

14. “I think the good Lord is a Yankee.”

— Mariano Rivera

15. “I miss everything that makes up Panama. I don’t have a preference. I love my country.”

— Mariano Rivera

16. “I want to give my respect, glory and time to the Bible – to the word of God – just as I want to give my respect and time to my work.”

— Mariano Rivera

17. “I see the hitter when he’s moved in the box, like when he’s moved closer to the plate or changed his stance. I see when the batter has moved his feet, and then I make my own adjustment.”

— Mariano Rivera

18. “I demand my kids be respectful, responsible and grateful. And they have to love the Lord with all their hearts.”

— Mariano Rivera

19. “You’re just trying to throw the best pitch you can and make sure you hit your spots. I don’t have to force nobody.”

— Mariano Rivera

20. “I’m a simple guy, you know? If I do something, it’s not going to be, ‘Look at this, look at that.’ It just happens.”

— Mariano Rivera

21. “There’s a lot of things more than baseball that I want to do.”

— Mariano Rivera

22. “That’s the game of baseball – amazing things happen.”

— Mariano Rivera

23. “I always take time for somebody who wants to talk to me.”

— Mariano Rivera

24. “Ever since I was a little kid, I was competitive.”

— Mariano Rivera

25. “I’m human – all I do is try to do my job. When I don’t do it, the way it happened today, it’s out of my control. He put the ball in play and it happened to find a hole. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. You move on.”

— Mariano Rivera

26. “I’m not used to seeing the ball go wherever she wants. As a pitcher, I like to be – I don’t want to say perfect, but I want to know what the ball is going to do.”

— Mariano Rivera

27. “I’m telling you, God loves a lot of people.”

— Mariano Rivera

28. “You can’t second-guess baseballyou can’t second-guess yourself.”

— Mariano Rivera

29. “I know what kind of pitcher Whitey was, and I know what kind of person Whitey is. It makes me feel proud to be a Yankee. We’re keeping this in the family.”

— Mariano Rivera

30. “I don’t feel invincible because I’m human.”

— Mariano Rivera

31. “Because I have a little bit more, that means I’m better than you? No. Unacceptable.”

— Mariano Rivera

32. “I don’t want to pitch forever.”

— Mariano Rivera

33. “If I have to win one game, I’d have a hard time taking anybody over Dustin Pedroia as my second baseman.”

— Mariano Rivera

34. “I just try to take away what I can from every situation, to always keep learning. Life is hard. Life is humbling. I do all I can to keep it simple.”

— Mariano Rivera