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If you're paid before you walk on the court, what's the point in playing as if your life depended on it?

Arthur Ashe

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Arthur Ashe
Age: 49 †
Born: 1943
Born: July 10
Died: 1993
Died: February 6
Military Officer
Tennis Player
Richmond
Virginia
Arthur Robert Ashe
Jr.
Life
Depended
Court
Paid
Walk
Walks
Playing
Sports
Point

More quotes by Arthur Ashe

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I have become convinced that we blacks spend too much time on the playing field and too little time in libraries.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments.
Arthur Ashe
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There is a syndrome in sports called 'paralysis by analysis.'
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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If one's reputation is a possession, then of all my possessions, my reputation means most to me.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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My humanity, in common with all of God's children, gives the greatest flight to my full range of my possibilities.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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I take the good with the bad, and I try to face them both with as much calm and dignity as I can muster.
Arthur Ashe
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Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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The world over - 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'. And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?'
Arthur Ashe