Arthur Ashe Quotes
-
There were times when I asked myself whether I was being principled or simply a coward.... I was wrapped in the cocoon of tennis early in life, mainly by blacks like my most powerful mentor, Dr. Robert Walter Johnson of Lynchburg, Virginia. They insisted that I be unfailingly polite on the court, unfalteringly calm and detached, so that whites could never accuse me of meanness. I learned well. I look at photographs of the skinny, frail, little black boy that I was in the early 1950s, and I see that I was my tennis racquet and my tennis racquet was me. It was my rod and my staff.
-
It doesn't have to glitter to be gold.
-
I'm waiting for the alarm clock to go off and I'm going to wake up, ... I can't believe how well things are going. This is a dream come true.
-
I know I could never forgive myself if I elected to live without humane purpose, without trying to help the poor and unfortunate, without recognizing that perhaps the purest joy in life comes with trying to help others.
-
Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.
-
This is my career highlight. Getting to the fourth round in the U.S. Open in my first year in the U.S. Open and first year on the tour.
-
The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.
-
You really are never playing an opponent. You are playing yourself.
-
What it is controlled cool, in a way. Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.
-
I have become convinced that we blacks spend too much time on the playing field and too little time in libraries.
-
It is not just the more talented player who wins. Some players may try a little harder.
-
Martina's like the old Green Bay Packers. You know exactly what she's going to do, but there isn't a thing you can do about it.
-
If I were to say, 'God, why me?' about the bad things, then I should have said, 'God, why me?' about the good things that happened in my life.
-
Clothes and manners do not make the...
-
Fear isn't an excuse to come to a standstill. It's the impetus to step up and strike.
-
We blacks look for leadership in men and women of such youth and inexperience, as well as poverty of education and character, that it is no wonder that we sometimes seem rudderless.... We see basketball players and pop singers as possible role models, when nothing could be further, in most cases, from their capacities.
-
I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments. That's no contribution to society. [Tennis] was purely selfish; that was for me.
-
A couple of times a day I sit quietly and visualize my body fighting the AIDS virus. It's the same as me sitting and seeing myself hit the perfect serve. I did that often when I was an athlete.
-
You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.
-
I have always drawn strength from being close to home.
-
Some folks call tennis a rich people's sport or a white person's game. I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do. Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being good in tennis. You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.
-
We must reach out our hand in friendship and dignity both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy.
-
You come to realize that life is short, and you have to step up. Don't feel sorry for me. Much is expected of those who are strong.
-
...I spent many, many hours in...libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were.