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

Ladies, here’s a hint. If you’re up against a girl with big boobs, bring her to the net and make her hit backhand volleys. That’s the hardest shot for the well-endowed.

It’s your birthday today, so what would you say, if we turned that frown upside down

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.

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.

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.

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.

I’ve made this decision not to talk to the press about anything that’s gone on in my life, but just to write music about it. They can interpret it themselves.

California is a great big nation of one They never knew what they wanted ’til it was already gone

I’m not talking with an American accent. I haven’t gone off and become Sammy Hagar.

I want to stay around longer than the pitchers who were at the top when I came into the big leagues. I don’t want to be gone and have all the old guys – Seaver, Carlton, Ryan and Sutton – still pitching. I got rid of Palmer, now I want to outlast the rest of them.

When you’re older and wiser a lot of the ego has gone out of the window.

I am now a turtle. Virtually everything I own is on my back and suffice it to say I am one ton lighter and therefore 2,000 pounds happier. All houses are gone.

I do have an honorary professorship in Poetics from the Vienna Academy of Arts. So I have not gone completely unnoticed

It is a little known fact that truth cannot be memorized. Truth has to be discovered now, from moment to moment. It is always fresh, always new, always there for the still, innocent mind that has experienced life without needing to hold on to what has gone before.