Billie Jean King Quotes

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

“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

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

— Billie Jean King

“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.”

— 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

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

— Billie Jean King

“Sports are a microcosm of society.”

— Billie Jean King

“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

“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

“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

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

— Billie Jean King

“I wanted to use sports for social change.”

— Billie Jean King

“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

“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

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

— Billie Jean King

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

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

— Billie Jean King

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

— Billie Jean King

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

— 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

“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

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

— Billie Jean King

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

— Billie Jean King

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

— Billie Jean King

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

— Billie Jean King

“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

“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

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

— Billie Jean King

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

— Billie Jean King

“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

“Some people do have softer boundaries.”

— Billie Jean King

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

— Billie Jean King

Champions take responsibility.

— Billie Jean King

“When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say "Why?", say "Why not?”

— 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

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

— Billie Jean King

“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

“Create your legacy, and pass the baton.”

— Billie Jean King

“Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure.”

— Billie Jean King

“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

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

— Billie Jean King

“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

“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

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

— 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

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

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

— Billie Jean King

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

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

— Billie Jean King

“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