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

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

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

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.

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

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.