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 KINGMen can have a huge turnover of sponsorship and still survive a lot better than the women. But the women’s ratings are better, at least at home in the United States than in the men’s tennis.
More Billie Jean King Quotes
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People say, “Do you know how much a million dollars is?” I don’t have a clue. How many Big Macs will it buy me?
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Marriage isn’t a 50-50 proposition very often. It’s more like 100-0 one moment and 0-100 the next.
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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.
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Everyone has people in their lives that are gay, lesbian or transgender or bisexual. They may not want to admit it, but I guarantee they know somebody.
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Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.
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At 62 you want to keep moving; that’s important.
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When a child signs up for tennis, he or she is put on a team. I put them in a circle and then I make sure they name their own team.
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A girl didn’t get an athletic scholarship until the fall of 1972 for the very first time.
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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.
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The main thing is not a matter of wanting to win; the main thing is being scared to lose.
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I feel that tennis is an art form that is capable of moving the players and the audience – at least a knowledgeable audience-in almost sensual ways.
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Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever.
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Champions keep playing until they get it right.
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In 1973, a woman could not get a credit card without her husband or father or a male signing off on it.
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You’ve got to win in sports – that’s talent – but you’ve also got to learn how to remind everybody how you did win, and how often. That comes with experience.
BILLIE JEAN KING