“Being Number One isn’t everything to me, but for those few hours on the court it’s way ahead of whatever’s in second place.”

I always respect right off the bat because we are human, but then over time you learn who the person truly is, just like they learn about you.

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?

Men 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.

The most important words that have helped me in life, when things have gone right or when things have gone wrong are ‘accept responsibility.’

Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure.

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.

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.

Don’t worry about what people say.

Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquillity.

I knew after my first lesson what I wanted to do with my life.

Don’t go into debt and don’t spend a lot. It’s not how much money you make, it’s how much you spend.

Winning 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.

Marriage isn’t a 50-50 proposition very often. It’s more like 100-0 one moment and 0-100 the next.

I like to see what future generations are thinking about.

Pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those who earn it.

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.

Gerard doesn’t tell me what to do. We discuss everything as a couple, as I imagine most partners do. We have a beautiful relationship and one of mutual trust.

Love is the effort and desire to make someone else everything they were created to be.

He is outside of everything, and alien everywhere. He is an aesthetic solitary.

Let us give ourselves indiscriminately to everything our passions suggest, and we will always be happy…

Judge everyone and everything for yourself.

Not thinking about anything is zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the buddha…. Using the mind to reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.

For the Fascist, everything is the State, and nothing human or spiritual exists, much less has value, outside the State. In this sense Fascism is totalitarian.

Imagine now a man who is deprived of everyone he loves, and at the same time of his house, his habits, his clothes, in short, of everything he possesses: he will be a hollow man, reduced to suffering and needs, forgetful of dignity and restraint, for he who loses all often loses himself.