Alan Shepard quote: “I can hit it farther on the moon. But actually, my swing is better here on Earth.”

“I always swing at the ball with all my might. I hit or miss big”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

From "'Keep Your Eye On the Ball'; No, Not Golf, It's Babe Ruth," http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1920/08/13/page/11/ by Ruth (as told to Pegler), in The Chicago Tribune (August 13, 1920), p. 11; reprinted as "How to Hit Home Runs," https://books.google.com/books?id=SAAlxi-0EZYC&pg=PA29&dq=%22I+always+swing%22+%22hit+or+miss+big%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZzNH7oM3QAhWJ4iYKHUCwC8wQ6AEIFDAA#v=onepage&q=%22I%20always%20swing%22%20%22hit%20or%20miss%20big%22&f=false in Playing the Game: My Early Years in Baseball, p. 29
Context: I always swing at the ball with all my might. I hit or miss big and when I miss I know it long before the umpire calls a strike on me, for every muscle in my back, shoulders and arms is groaning, "You missed it." And believe me, it is no fun to miss a ball that hard. Once I put myself out of the game for a few days by a miss like that.

“If the attractive virtue of the moon extends as far as the earth, it follows with greater reason that the attractive virtue of the earth extends as far as the moon and much farther; and, in short, nothing which consists of earthly substance anyhow constituted although thrown up to any height, can ever escape the powerful operation of this attractive virtue.”

Johannes Kepler book Astronomia nova

As quoted by Bryant, ibid.
Astronomia nova (1609)

“I hear people say I swing at bad pitches. What is a bad pitch? If I can hit it, it's not a bad pitch.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

As quoted in "SPORTS BEAT: Bucco Ship Needs Clemente's Big Bat" by Wendell Smith in The New Pittsburgh Courier (April 10, 1965), p. 15
Baseball-related, <big><big>1960s</big></big>, <big>1965</big>

“I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

As quoted in Go for the Gold: Thoughts on Achieving Your Personal Best (2001) by Ariel Books
Context: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball. In boxing, your fist usually stops when you hit a man, but its possible to hit so hard that your fist doesn't stop. I try to follow through in the same way. The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.

“I could always hit a home run, but if I try to do that all the time, maybe I not hit over.300. I am more valuable to my team hitting.330,.340, than I am swinging for home runs.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

Speaking before Game 7 of the 1971 World Series, as quoted in "Numero Uno: Roberto!" http://www.mediafire.com/view/1vobx891junlic4/.JPG (1973) by Bill Christine, p. 141
Baseball-related, <big><big>1970s</big></big>

“The way I see it, it's a great thing to be the man who hit the most home runs, but it's a greater thing to be the man who did the most with the home runs he hit. So as long as there's a chance that maybe I can hammer out a little justice now and then, or a little opportunity here and there, I intend to do as I always have — keep swinging.”

Hank Aaron (1934) Retired American baseball player

Source: I Had a Hammer : The Hank Aaron Story (1990), Ch. 1

“Look, here is the way I swing. I swing hard. I don’t punch the ball. I have bat control, and I don’t go for home runs, but I still swing as hard as some fellows who swing for the fences. My back is practically to first base when I finish the swing. I have to turn around before I can start running. Sometimes the ball is in the fielder’s hands before I drop the bat.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

On how being right-handed negatively impacted his chances of batting .400, as quoted in "Aches, Pains... and Base Hits" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W6lWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xecDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7036%2C4509721 by Jim Murray, in The Los Angeles Times (August 10, 1971). Also see the above comment (August 11, 1964) re "stepping in the bucket."
Baseball-related, <big><big>1970s</big></big>, <big>1971</big>

“Contrary to the rumours that you've heard, I was not born in a manger. I was actually born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-El, to save the planet Earth.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Joking in a speech at the Al Smith Dinner in New York City (17 October 2008) http://www.truveo.com/Obama-Im-From-Krypton-My-Father-Was-JorEl/id/2710091678; making allusions Jesus and Superman, in regard to impossibly high expectations of what he might do as president.
2008

“The stars up close to the moon were pale; they got brighter and braver the farther they got out of the circle of light ruled by the giant moon”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

“I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball.”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

As quoted in Go for the Gold: Thoughts on Achieving Your Personal Best (2001) by Ariel Books
Context: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball. In boxing, your fist usually stops when you hit a man, but its possible to hit so hard that your fist doesn't stop. I try to follow through in the same way. The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.

“I can hit it farther on the moon. But actually, my swing is better here on Earth.”

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Alan Shepard 24

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