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

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

Do not feel sorry for me if I am gone.

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

Start where you are, use what you have.

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.

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

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

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

There is a syndrome in sports called ‘paralysis by analysis.’

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.

I have always drawn strength from being close to home.

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

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

A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

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

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

No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, Somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, Somebody will want it more, I am Somebody.

If you do it first class and you don’t compromise values, and you don’t compromise quality, and you don’t compromise service, and you don’t compromise cleanliness, then everybody else who is the competitor has got to play catch-up.

A lot of times I find that people who are blessed with the most talent don’t ever develop that attitude, and the ones who aren’t blessed in that way are the most competitive and have the biggest heart.

Speaking of competition in the fast-food industry. This is rat eat rat, dog eat dog. I’ll kill ’em, and I’m going to kill ’em before they kill me.

If you’re poor, you don’t often live near a good school. If it’s a competitive public school program, our kids are not prepared to enter those programs.

I’ve been in international competition, and now I know what the big boys can do. You don’t go out and just run. There’s an offense and a defense.

I am inspired by many, but am in competition with only myself.

When I was on ‘Drag Race,’ it felt like a serious competition going on between drag queens and then Katya and I were also there.