tennis player Quotes

You come to realize that life is short, and you have to step up. Don't feel sorry for me. Much is expected of those who are strong.

Drummed into me, above all, by my dad, by the whole family, was that without your good name, you would be nothing.

The world over - 50 million children start playing tennis... when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'. And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?'

If one's reputation is a possession, then of all my possessions, my reputation means most to me.

It's an abnormal world I live in. I don't belong anywhere. It's like I'm floating down the middle. I'm never quite sure where I am.

There is a syndrome in sports called 'paralysis by analysis.'

You really are never playing an opponent. You are playing yourself.

Throughout my formal education I spent many, many hours in public and school libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were. The current definitive answer to almost any question can be found within the four walls of most...

When we were together, I loved you deeply and you gave me so much happiness I can never repay you.

With what we give, we make a life.

It doesn't have to glitter to be gold.

Do not feel sorry for me if I am gone.

I take the good with the bad, and I try to face them both with as much calm and dignity as I can muster.

Some folks call tennis a rich people's sport or a white person's game. I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do. Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being...

You learn about equality in history and civics, but you find out life is not really like that.

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.

There is a terrific apprehension among some people that blacks will take over the sport... It will create problems because their behavior, speech and dress is just a completely different culture.

We blacks look for leadership in men and women of such youth and inexperience, as well as poverty of education and character, that it is no wonder that we sometimes seem rudderless.... We see basketball players and pop singers as...

A couple of times a day I sit quietly and visualize my body fighting the AIDS virus. It's the same as me sitting and seeing myself hit the perfect serve. I did that often when I was an athlete.

I accepted the face that as much as I want to lead others, and love to be around other people, in some essential way, I am something of a loner.

Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.

...I spent many, many hours in...libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were.

I have tried to keep on with my striving because this is the only hope I have of ever achieving anything worthwhile and lasting.

I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.

Fear isn't an excuse to come to a standstill. It's the impetus to step up and strike.

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

If I didn't play tennis I probably would have to see a psychiatrist.

Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.

I strongly believe the black culture spends too much time, energy and effort raising, praising, and teasing our black children about the dubious glories of professional sports.

Every time you win, it diminishes the fear a little bit. You never really cancel the fear of losing; you keep challenging it.

Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.

This is my career highlight. Getting to the fourth round in the U.S. Open in my first year in the U.S. Open and first year on the tour.

We must believe in the power of education. We must respect just laws. We must love ourselves, our old and or young, our women as well as our men.

I have become convinced that we blacks spend too much time on the playing field and too little time in libraries.

Martina's like the old Green Bay Packers. You know exactly what she's going to do, but there isn't a thing you can do about it.

I may not be walking with you all the way, or even much of the way, as I walk with you now.

Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.

There's no better stage than the U.S. Open for me

There were times when I asked myself whether I was being principled or simply a coward.... I was wrapped in the cocoon of tennis early in life, mainly by blacks like my most powerful mentor, Dr. Robert Walter Johnson of...

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.

Wherever I am when you feel sick at heart and weary of life, or when you stumble and fall and don’t know if you can get up again, think of me. I will be watching and smiling and cheering you...

Having grown up in a segregated environment in the south I know what it's like to be stepped on, I know what it's like also to see some black hero do well in the face of adversity.

Seven out of 10 black faces you see on television are athletes. The black athlete carries the image of the black community. He carries the cross, in a way, until blacks make inroads in other dimensions.

The best way to judge a life is to ask yourself, "Did I make the best use of the time I had?

I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments. That's no contribution to society. [Tennis] was purely selfish; that was for me.

I have always drawn strength from being close to home.

It is not just the more talented player who wins. Some players may try a little harder.

I would like to flood South Africa with black personages of all sorts of persuasions: writers, educators, businessmen, you name it. If you are black and have any clout at all, I would like to see you go to South...

I don't care who you are, you're going to choke in certain matches. You get to a point where your legs don't move and you can't take a deep breath. You start to hit the ball about a yard wide,...

I know I could never forgive myself if I elected to live without humane purpose, without trying to help the poor and unfortunate, without recognizing that perhaps the purest joy in life comes with trying to help others.

If I were to say, 'God, why me?' about the bad things, then I should have said, 'God, why me?' about the good things that happened in my life.

You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.

Let me put it this way: I think Republicans tend to keep the ball in play, Democrats go for broke.

Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being good in tennis.

If I don't ask "Why me?" after my victories, I cannot ask "Why me?" after my setbacks and disasters.

Life is like a tennis game. You can't win without serving.

A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.

I wish more of us could understand that our increasing isolation, no matter how much it seems to express pride and self-affirmation, is not the answer to our problems. Rather, the answer is a revival of our ancient commitment to...

If you're paid before you walk on the court, what's the point in playing as if your life depended on it?

I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.