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I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments. That's no contribution to society. [Tennis] was purely selfish that was for me.

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.
Contribution
Tennis
Remembered
Selfish
Society
Accomplishments
Purely
Accomplishment

More quotes by 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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My potential is more than can be expressed within the bounds of my race or ethnic identity.
Arthur Ashe
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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.
Arthur Ashe
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A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.
Arthur Ashe
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Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.
Arthur Ashe
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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?
Arthur Ashe
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Start where you are, use what you have.
Arthur Ashe
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The best way to judge a life is to ask yourself, Did I make the best use of the time I had?
Arthur Ashe
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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.
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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Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being good in tennis.
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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Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.
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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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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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
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I strongly believe the black culture spends too much time, energy and effort raising, praising, and teasing our black children about the dubious glories of professional sports.
Arthur Ashe
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I would like to flood South Africa with black personages of all sorts of persuasions: writers, educators, businessmen, you name it. If you are black and have any clout at all, I would like to see you go to South Africa and look for yourself and come back and try to use the tools that you have at your command to try and help the brothers down there.
Arthur Ashe
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We must reach out our hand in friendship and dignity both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy.
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