“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.”

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.

Someone once told me that God figured that I was a pretty good juggler. I could keep a lot of balls in the air at one time. So He said, “Let’s see if he can juggle another one.”

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.

I want to cuddle to feel your skin, your warmth, hear your breath, and read to you.

My heart is beating, and I’m breathing, and nothing anybody has ever done has changed that.

i cannot breathe in any more sadness-suffering.

I am finding the courage to breathe as I am.

I breathe you in and I am alive again.

I will breathe because I must, but I will smile because I’m living.

I breathe in the first glimmers of freedom – it tastes of sweet hopefulness.

Death is love, and love is death it is letting go even before your last breath.