“The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is the atheist who does not believe in himself.”

Don’t be afraid to hit the ball.

There’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.

When I was outed, it was like, That’s done.

Sports are a microcosm of society.

A girl didn’t get an athletic scholarship until the fall of 1972 for the very first time.

Champions take responsibility.

I will tell you King’s First Law of Recognition: You never get it when you want it, and then when it comes, you get too much.

In 1973, a woman could not get a credit card without her husband or father or a male signing off on it.

I always liked co-ed events best so we have two men and two women on each team.

Pressure is a privilege … it’s what you do with it that matters.

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.

Some people do have softer boundaries.

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.

At 62 you want to keep moving; that’s important.

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.

I have a lot to say, and if I’m not No. 1, I can’t say it.

the fastest-growing brand of religion is of the magical ‘name it and claim it’ variety, in which the deity exists only to meet one’s immediate, self-identified needs.

The special forces gave me the self-confidence to do some extraordinary things in my life. Climbing Everest then cemented my belief in myself.

The problem is that if you’re self-conscious about being a person on whom nothing is lost, isn’t something lost – some kind of presence? You’re distracted by trying to be totally, perfectly impressionable.

I wasn’t supported, I wasn’t given any self-esteem.

The battle of yoga is with the body and with the ego. You must conquer your ego, or small self, so that you can let your soul, your big Self, be victorious.

It is no use lying to one’s self.

A friend once asked me what qualities were needed for SAS. I would say to be self-motivated and resilient; to be calm, yet have the ability to smile when it is grim; to be unflappable, be able to react fast and to have an ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’ mentality.

I have a horror of being self-indulgent and wasting time, and there is that risk in doing this kind of work. Are you totally deluded in sitting down at a desk every day and trying to write something? Is it self-indulgent, or might it possibly lead to something worthwhile?