Arthur Ashe

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

When bright young minds can't afford college, America pays the price.
Arthur Ashe

Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.
Arthur Ashe

You learn about equality in history and civics, but you find out life is not really like that.
Arthur Ashe

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

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.
Arthur Ashe

I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.
Arthur Ashe

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

There is a syndrome in sports called 'paralysis by analysis?.
Arthur Ashe

The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.
Arthur Ashe

You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.
Arthur Ashe

Every time you win, it diminishes the fear a little bit. You never really cancel the fear of losing; you keep challenging it.
Arthur Ashe

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

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Arthur Ashe

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.
Arthur Ashe

Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory.
Arthur Ashe

Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.
Arthur Ashe

We blacks look for leadership in men and women of such youth and inexperience, as well as poverty of education and character, that it is no wonder that we sometimes seem rudderless. . . . We see basketball players and pop singers as possible role models.
Arthur Ashe

Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome.
Arthur Ashe