Quotes By Billie Jean King

Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.

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.

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

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.

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.

Sports are a microcosm of society.

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

I think younger players probably just think they are who they are-they don't think about coming out. Unless you're number one in the world, nobody cares, usually.

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

Any therapist will tell you that when you're ready, you will come out. To be outed means you weren't ready.

I used to be told if I talked about my sexuality in any way that we wouldn't have a tennis tour.

Women's sports is still in its infancy. The beginning of women's sports in the United States started in 1972, with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships.

I wanted to use sports for social change.

It's just really important that we start celebrating our differences. Let's start tolerating first, but then we need to celebrate our differences.