Quotes by Arthur Ashe

I have always drawn strength from being close to home.

Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.

Every time you win, it diminishes the fear a little bit. You never really cancel the fear of losing; you keep challenging it.

If I didn't play tennis I probably would have to see a psychiatrist.

There is a terrific apprehension among some people that blacks will take over the sport... It will create problems because their behavior, speech and dress is just a completely different culture.

In America you're conditioned to regard everything as a contest. You have to make the Ten Best Dressed List, win this, win that. It drives me nuts sometimes. Who cares, for Christ's sake?

Seven out of 10 black faces you see on television are athletes. The black athlete carries the image of the black community. He carries the cross, in a way, until blacks make inroads in other dimensions.

I have become convinced that we blacks spend too much time on the playing field and too little time in libraries.

You really are never playing an opponent. You are playing yourself.

I spent many, many hours in...libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were.

Life is like a tennis game. You can't win without serving.

Wherever I am when you feel sick at heart and weary of life, or when you stumble and fall and don't know if you can get up again, think of me. I will be watching and smiling and cheering you on.

Sometimes, a defeat can be more beautiful and satisfying than certain victories. The English have a point in insisting that it matters not who won or lost, but how you played the game.

Someone once told me that God figured that I was a pretty good juggler. I could keep a lot of balls in the air at one time. So He said, Let's see if he can juggle another one.

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.

Throughout my formal education I spent many, many hours in public and school libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were. The current definitive answer to almost any question can be found within the four walls of most libraries.

If I don't ask Why me? after my victories, I cannot ask Why me? after my setbacks and disasters.

Fear isn't an excuse to come to a standstill. It's the impetus to step up and strike.

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.

I don't care who you are, you're going to choke in certain matches. You get to a point where your legs don't move and you can't take a deep breath. You start to hit the ball about a yard wide, instead of inches.

A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments.

Do not feel sorry for me if I am gone.

I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.

There is a syndrome in sports called 'paralysis by analysis.'

Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.

When bright young minds can't afford college, America pays the price.

You learn about equality in history and civics, but you find out life is not really like that.

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.

My potential is more than can be expressed within the bounds of my race or ethnic identity.

When we were together, I loved you deeply and you gave me so much happiness I can never repay you.

We must believe in the power of education. We must respect just laws. We must love ourselves, our old and or young, our women as well as our men.

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.

We must reach out our hand in friendship and dignity both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy.

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

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.

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.