I knew after my first lesson what I wanted to do with my life.
BILLIE JEAN KINGI 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.
More Billie Jean King Quotes
-
-
Don’t worry about what people say.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
Men still get a lot more opportunity. It is still a big part of the old boy network… They have more companies they can get money from.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
People 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 KING -
Martina and I went through a very bad five years. Everything’s very good between us now, but it was a long haul.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
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.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say “Why?”, say “Why not?
BILLIE JEAN KING -
In 1973, a woman could not get a credit card without her husband or father or a male signing off on it.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
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.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
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.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
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.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
I like putting money back into what made my life, and tennis has been great to me.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
Each point I play is in the now moment. The last point means nothing, the next point means nothing.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
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.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
It’s about learning your craft. That’s a wonderful thing–especially with today’s consumerism and instant gratification.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
Champions keep playing until they get it right.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
I have a lot to say, and if I’m not No. 1, I can’t say it.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
It’s important to try to get people to think about women’s wellness.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
That is where the power, opportunity, and choice come from-when you have money. Money equals opportunity. There is no question.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquillity.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
You just know where to put the ball. You just feel it. It has been computed into your brain so many times it is there.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
When they take surveys of women in business, of the Fortune 500, the successful women, 80% of them, say they were in sports as a young woman.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
In business, everything starts with integrity. Otherwise it falls apart, though it does take time to find out who has integrity.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
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.
BILLIE JEAN KING -
The trouble with being number one in the world – in anything- is that it takes a certain mentality to attain that position, and that is something of a driving, perfectionist attitude, so that once you do achieve number one, you don’t relax and enjoy it.
BILLIE JEAN KING