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

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.

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.

A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

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.

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

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

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

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

If I don’t ask “Why me?” after my victories, I cannot ask “Why me?” after my setbacks and disasters.

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

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

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.

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

Give me an Army of West Point graduates and I’ll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I’ll win a war.

To love you is a battle that takes wars to stop.

All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.

No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

Pessimism never won any battle.

It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

Life is a battle so we dance.