Arthur Ashe Quotes

Sometimes, a defeat can be more beautiful and satisfying than certain victories. The English have a point in insisting that it matters not who won or lost, but how you played the game.

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

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

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

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 good in tennis. You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.

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.

I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments.

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.

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

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

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.

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 possible role models, when nothing could be further, in most cases, from their capacities.

A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

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

With what we give, we make a life.

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 on.

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.

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

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

The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.

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

My potential is more than can be expressed within the bounds of my race or ethnic identity.

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

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

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.

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

Start where you are, use what you have.

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

You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.

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.

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.

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

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, instead of inches.

It doesn't have to glitter to be gold.

The world over - 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'. And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?'

Do not feel sorry for me if I am gone.

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

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.

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 libraries.

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.

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

My humanity, in common with all of God's children, gives the greatest flight to my full range of my possibilities.

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

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

I'm learning to use others' weaknesses. I don't hammer a man's soft spot constantly, because he may strengthen it. I just save it as a trump up my sleeve for moments when I really need a point.

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.

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

When bright young minds can't afford college, America pays the price.