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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

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Billie Jean King
Age: 81
Born: 1943
Born: November 22
Sports Commentator
Tennis Coach
Tennis Player
Long Beach
California
Billie Jean Moffitt
Five
Everything
Long
Years
Good
Haul
Went
Sports

More quotes by Billie Jean King

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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
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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
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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
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Pressure is a privilege - it only comes to those who earn it.
Billie Jean King
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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
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I wanted to use sports for social change.
Billie Jean King
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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
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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
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Don't let anyone define you. You define yourself.
Billie Jean King
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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
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If your partner wants to be private, you have to respect that.
Billie Jean King
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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
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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.
Billie Jean King
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Some people do have softer boundaries.
Billie Jean King
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Every generation I think gets better usually [in tennis].
Billie Jean King
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In business, everything starts with integrity. Otherwise it falls apart, though it does take time to find out who has integrity.
Billie Jean King
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When people tell you not to believe in your dreams, and they say “Why?”, say “Why not?
Billie Jean King
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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
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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
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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