The main thing is not a matter of wanting to win; the main thing is being scared to lose.
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
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It’s your birthday today, so what would you say, if we turned that frown upside down
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Some people do have softer boundaries.
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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.
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In 1973, women got 59 cents on the dollar; now we are getting 74 cents on the dollar. In the area of finance and business, we are at 68 cents on the dollar.
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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.
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That’s why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won’t be anybody’s number one, and it’s that same old thing: if you’re not number one, then what does it really matter?
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Trust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given.
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The most important words that have helped me in life, when things have gone right or when things have gone wrong are ‘accept responsibility.’
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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.
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I always liked co-ed events best so we have two men and two women on each team.
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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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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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I think if you’re put on a team as a child, like you are in soccer and other sports, I think the children are going to stay in the sport and have more fun if they’re on a team. They want to play with their friends and have fun.
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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.
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Don’t be afraid to hit the ball.
BILLIE JEAN KING