Billie Jean King quotes:

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.

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

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.

Women's sports is still in its infancy. The beginning of women's sports in the United States started in 1972, with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships.

Champions keep playing until they get it right.

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.

There is no life for girls in team sports past Little League. I got into tennis when I realized this, and because I thought golf would be too slow for me, and I was too scared to swim.

I 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.

Women get the attention when we get into the men's arena, and that's sad.

It's just really important that we start celebrating our differences. Let's start tolerating first, but then we need to celebrate our differences.

Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn't allowed in a photo because I wasn't wearing a tennis skirt, I knew that I wanted to change the sport.

That is where the power, opportunity, and choice come from-when you have money. Money equals opportunity. There is no question.

A girl didn't get an athletic scholarship until the fall of 1972 for the very first time.

I love to promote our sport. I love grass-roots tennis. I love coaching. I love all parts of the sport. I love the business side.

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.

In 1973, a woman could not get a credit card without her husband or father or a male signing off on it.

Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.

I think it's impossible to judge whether another person should come out. You just hope they will on their own time and their own terms.

The main thing is not a matter of wanting to win; the main thing is being scared to lose.

In the seventies we had to make it acceptable for people to accept girls and women as athletes. We had to make it okay for them to be active. Those were much scarier times for females in sports.

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

It is very hard to be a female leader. While it is assumed that any man, no matter how tough, has a soft side... and female leader is assumed to be one-dimensional.

I like putting money back into what made my life, and tennis has been great to me.

I like entrepreneurial people; I like people who take risks.

Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball.

I always liked co-ed events best so we have two men and two women on each team.

I always wanted to help make tennis a team sport.

Any therapist will tell you that when you're ready, you will come out. To be outed means you weren't ready.

Everyone has people in their lives that are gay, lesbian or transgender or bisexual. They may not want to admit it, but I guarantee they know somebody.

If your partner wants to be private, you have to respect that.

Female athletes are stereotyped by the general population--and usually as homosexuals.

No matter how tough, no matter what kind of outside pressure, no matter how many bad breaks along the way, I must keep my sights on the final goal, to win, win, win-and with more love and passion than the world has ever witnessed in any performance.

Sports are a microcosm of society.

My whole life has been about equal rights and opportunities. For me it really goes back to the health of mind, body and soul.

I think it's really important to have portion control. I don't believe in losing weight quickly.

In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I'll be worth a sentence or two.... 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?

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion

Tennis taught me so many lessons in life. One of the things it taught me is that every ball that comes to me, I have to make a decision. I have to accept responsibility for the consequences every time I hit a ball.

I wanted to use sports for social change.

The old boy network is still very strong and very true. Just look at the stock exchange and how many men and women are there. It is still very much run by men.

Champions take responsibility. When the ball is coming over the net, you can be sure I want the ball.

I was always in the tennis business-from 1968. I was in tournaments and also on World Team Tennis teams as well.

Trust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given.

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.

When we reach the point where the women athletes are getting their pick of dates just as easily as the men athletes, then we've really and truly arrived. Parity at last!

A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.

Martina and I went through a very bad five years. Everything's very good between us now, but it was a long haul.

The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.

Martina's gone with people who don't want to be out, and it drives her crazy because she'd rather be open.

They're not put on earth to be martyrs; they have to want to come out. It depends on your culture, where you work, where you live. Each person's circumstances are unique.

I think younger players probably just think they are who they are-they don't think about coming out. Unless you're number one in the world, nobody cares, usually.

I have often been asked whether I am a women or an athlete. The question is absurd. Men are not asked that. I am an athlete. I am a women.

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

Every generation I think gets better usually [in tennis].

When you oppress people either by gender, by race, by sexual orientation, when you do that and the doors become ajar, they will fly open and they will come and they have.

I think if you're put on a team as a child, like you are in soccer and other sports, I think the children are going to stay in the sport and have more fun if they're on a team. They want to play with their friends and have fun.

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. I would have them do their skill drills as a team and their fun drills together as a team, then they have to have a match at the end of every week. They can't just have what they call a lesson today every week.

You have got to want to be the best before you can even begin to reach for that goal, and you have got to be prepared to sacrifice a lot to get there.

Reputation is what others think about you. What's far more important is character, because that is what you think about yourself.

I always think it's best to pretend you're in a tenuous position. Just as a player, you always want to stay in the now and work hard but also have goals for the future. There's no promises in any entrepreneurial business. You have to really work hard every year and also try to envision where you want to go in the future at the same time.

Don't let anyone define you. You define yourself.

I got to see the best players in the world every year the week after the U.S. Nationals, which is now known as the US Open, in Los Angeles. That made a huge difference in my life.

Natural talent only determines the limits of your athletic potential. It's dedication and a willingness to discipline your life that makes you great.

No one changes the world who isn't obsessed.

Pressure is a privilege ... it's what you do with it that matters.

Sports are a microcosm of society. It just shows how much more competition there is in the world.

I always listen, I ask children, I even ask adults in tennis, "What are your children playing?" And most of the time it's not tennis. It's pathetic.

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.

I feel that tennis is an art form that is capable of moving the players and the audience - at least a knowledgeable audience-in almost sensual ways. When I'm performing at my absolute best, I think that some of the euphoria I feel must be transmitted to the audience.

Champions adjust and pressure is a privilege.

I think one of the concerns, anytime you're in the human business, like sports, it's a very high - risk endeavor. You do have to get players every year. You have to deal with calendar. You have to deal with all kinds of things in our sport, like every sport does.

Some people do have softer boundaries.

I grew up in team sports. I think I understand the psyche of America. I think when children sign up to play, it's got to be team.

Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure.

Don't worry about what people say.

It's very important to take tennis to the people. For young people, they get to see the best in the world.

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

I try to perfect my strong points and make my weaknesses adequate.

I would just never out anybody. I think everyone has to find it in their own way and their own time.

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.

For me, losing a tennis match isn't failure, it's research.

When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say â??Why?â?, say â??Why not?

Champions take responsibility.

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.

Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever.

It's about learning your craft. That's a wonderful thing--especially with today's consumerism and instant gratification. You can'tbuy that. It's about making decisions, corrections, choices. I don't think it's so much about becoming a tennis player. It's about becoming a person.

Tennis is a game of angles. You never have time to figure the angles. It's practiced. It's so practiced that it becomes an instinct. 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.

We have, or have had women presidents or prime ministers in Liberia, Chile, Germany, Great Britain...and yet the US of A still hasn't had a women president. It's just beyond my thinking. Look at Congress...

Ask Nureyev to stop dancing, ask Sinatra to stop singing, then you can ask me to stop playing.

I didn't really care if I had a coach that much, me personally, because I was brought up to think for myself.

I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it.

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.

Don't be afraid to hit the ball.

I have a lot to say, and if I'm not No. 1, I can't say it.

When I was outed, it was like, That's done.

I used to be told if I talked about my sexuality in any way that we wouldn't have a tennis tour.

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.

Love, light & blessings be On this day I wish to say 'Health & Happiness to come your way' Happy Birthday

Each point I play is in the now moment. The last point means nothing, the next point means nothing.

Create your legacy, and pass the baton.

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.

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.

Our love one's are never gone, they have just popped into another room.

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.

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

At 62 you want to keep moving; that's important.

Bobby Riggs was one of my heroes. I admired him. That's one of the reasons I beat him - because I respected him.

I've never cared that much for cementing my place in history. Sports is so transitory, so ephemeral. It just seems like so much nonsense comparing me to Helen Wills Moody or Suzanne Lenglen or anybody else from some other time. One lesson you learn from sports is that life goes on without you.

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

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?

I hate being called a homosexual because I don't feel that way. It really upsets me ... Being gay can happen in any walk of life, in any world. If you have one gay experience, does that mean you're gay? If you have one heterosexual experience, does that mean you're straight? Life doesn't work quite so cut and dried.

You want people to feel like they belong to something. And not be elitist. You don't want us to be elitist.

I like to see what future generations are thinking about.

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. Hope it works out really well, and you hope that builds a stronger connection over time. You can't be friends with everybody.

As far as U.S. tennis, we need new stars coming up in the pipeline, but I don't know if we have it.

It's important to try to get people to think about women's wellness.

In business, everything starts with integrity. Otherwise it falls apart, though it does take time to find out who has integrity.