Famous Quotes & Sayings

Billie Jean King Quotes & Sayings

Enjoy the top 100 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Billie Jean King.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Pinterest Share on Linkedin

Famous Quotes By Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1724406

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 647455

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1369123

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1068241

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 274464

When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say "Why?", say "Why not? — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1334305

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 84561

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 2228595

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2228153

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 880044

A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1928163

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1889313

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 213988

I knew after my first lesson what I wanted to do with my life. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 894175

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 501304

When I was outed, it was like, That's done. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2000285

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 255334

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1838498

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 366653

No one changes the world who isn't obsessed. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 159309

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 2254068

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1874111

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1504425

Pressure is a privilege - it only comes to those who earn it. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1699405

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1628133

At 62 you want to keep moving; that's important. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1595674

Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2234697

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1591124

I wanted to use sports for social change. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1555089

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1549958

Don't let anyone define you. You define yourself. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1762884

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1474676

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1429323

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2260471

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1352284

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 ... — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1351333

For me, losing a tennis match isn't failure, it's research. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 80624

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1311632

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1910167

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2026834

Champions keep playing until they get it right. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2014216

If your partner wants to be private, you have to respect that. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1971049

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1953156

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1948288

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 2154757

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1917948

I like to see what future generations are thinking about. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1916303

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1707133

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2268012

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1882170

Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1867331

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1763397

I try to perfect my strong points and make my weaknesses adequate. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2204940

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? — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2095754

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1739020

Don't be afraid to hit the ball. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 2210476

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 290454

Female athletes are stereotyped by the general population
and usually as homosexuals. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 480307

Sports are a microcosm of society. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 452700

Some people do have softer boundaries. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 427145

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 408428

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 382876

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 336797

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 333453

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 325032

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 309682

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 291951

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! — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 531191

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 275099

I like entrepreneurial people; I like people who take risks. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 258224

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 211741

It's fun to meet people from throughout the world who you don't have to explain yourself to. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 206095

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 200859

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 179846

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 162234

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 150100

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 145332

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 135249

Create your legacy, and pass the baton. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 835763

Don't worry about what people say. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1287541

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1221643

Trust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 1171526

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1151841

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1088064

Champions take responsibility. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 980236

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 978464

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 970671

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 952668

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 952044

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 1306961

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 835762

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 798821

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 778511

Ask Nureyev to stop dancing, ask Sinatra to stop singing, then you can ask me to stop playing. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 769727

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 761468

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 678923

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. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 620979

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 616225

It's important to try to get people to think about women's wellness. — Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King Quotes 550550

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

Billie Jean King Quotes 547710

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. — Billie Jean King