I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it.
BILLIE JEAN KINGWhen you oppress people either by gender, by race, by sexual orientation, when you do that and the doors become ajar, they will fly open and they will come and they have.
More Billie Jean King Quotes
-
-
When I was playing, we didn’t have to compete against everybody in the world. Now it’s a truly global sport, so the competition’s much greater, just like it is for our children in every other area, whether it be in science or technology or whatever you talk about.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
I like to see what future generations are thinking about.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
It’s very important to take tennis to the people. For young people, they get to see the best in the world.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
You have got to want to be the best before you can even begin to reach for that goal, and you have got to be prepared to sacrifice a lot to get there.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
If you have one gay experience, does that mean you’re gay? If you have one heterosexual experience, does that mean you’re straight? Life doesn’t work quite so cut and dried.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
Sports are a microcosm of society.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
You do have to get players every year. You have to deal with calendar. You have to deal with all kinds of things in our sport, like every sport does.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
I always listen, I ask children, I even ask adults in tennis, “What are your children playing?” And most of the time it’s not tennis. It’s pathetic.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
It’s really impossible for athletes to grow up. On the one hand, you’re still a child, still playing a game. But on the other hand, you’re a superhuman hero that everyone dreams of being. No wonder we have such a hard time understanding who we are.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
It’s about learning your craft. That’s a wonderful thing–especially with today’s consumerism and instant gratification.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
I always think it’s best to pretend you’re in a tenuous position. Just as a player, you always want to stay in the now and work hard but also have goals for the future.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
Pressure is a privilege … it’s what you do with it that matters.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
If your partner wants to be private, you have to respect that.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
We have, or have had women presidents or prime ministers in Liberia, Chile, Germany, Great Britain…and yet the US of A still hasn’t had a women president. It’s just beyond my thinking. Look at Congress.
BILLIE JEAN KING