You can’tbuy that. It’s about making decisions, corrections, choices. I don’t think it’s so much about becoming a tennis player. It’s about becoming a person.
BILLIE JEAN KINGYou can’tbuy that. It’s about making decisions, corrections, choices. I don’t think it’s so much about becoming a tennis player. It’s about becoming a person.
BILLIE JEAN KINGPeople say, “Do you know how much a million dollars is?” I don’t have a clue. How many Big Macs will it buy me?
BILLIE JEAN KINGReputation is what others think about you. What’s far more important is character, because that is what you think about yourself.
BILLIE JEAN KINGTrust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given.
BILLIE JEAN KINGA girl didn’t get an athletic scholarship until the fall of 1972 for the very first time.
BILLIE JEAN KINGThere is no life for girls in team sports past Little League. I got into tennis when I realized this, and because I thought golf would be too slow for me, and I was too scared to swim.
BILLIE JEAN KINGIt’s very important to take tennis to the people. For young people, they get to see the best in the world.
BILLIE JEAN KINGThere’s no promises in any entrepreneurial business. You have to really work hard every year and also try to envision where you want to go in the future at the same time.
BILLIE JEAN KINGIf 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 KINGWinning is very tangible, it’s very exciting, it’s very pleasing, but it’s momentary. If you can do things that last, that each generation can build upon, then that’s when you’re cooking.
BILLIE JEAN KINGMartina and I went through a very bad five years. Everything’s very good between us now, but it was a long haul.
BILLIE JEAN KINGHope it works out really well, and you hope that builds a stronger connection over time. You can’t be friends with everybody.
BILLIE JEAN KINGWhen 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 KINGAny therapist will tell you that when you’re ready, you will come out. To be outed means you weren’t ready.
BILLIE JEAN KINGWe 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 KINGWhen people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say “Why?”, say “Why not?
BILLIE JEAN KING