Top 97 Quotes & Sayings by Jimmy White
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an English celebrity Jimmy White.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Everything for me was to beat the system, the way I played was to beat the system.
The best match I ever played in was the U.K. championship final against John Parrot in 1992. I won 16-14 and I felt like I could pot anything from anywhere.
I know sometimes I played to the crowd, and it did cost me.
I mean what's the point of them becoming professional snooker players? If there's not much money in the game, if there's no guarantee of future tournaments, if no one knows what's going on.
That period in the late Eighties and early Nineties was when I was playing my best snooker. My trouble was that I had so many bad habits that my preparation was terrible: people like Steve Davis or Dennis Taylor were model pros.
Hendry's fine. I've got a lot of respect for him.
The thought of the weekends I used to have now makes me shake.
My dad was a coalman and was always playing snooker with his mates.
I love playing O'Sullivan. It is a bit of a role reversal from when I used to play Alex Higgins.
Snooker still fascinates me and I still get a buzz from it.
If you've got to win ugly, do it.
I was a big fan of Naseem Hamed, and followed him. Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and I know him well.
I play poker face to face.
I could be in Spain, spending my time playing bad golf; financially I don't need to play snooker. I play because I love it.
The worst problem I've probably had was the gambling - you can do your money in the bookies a lot quicker than you can do it in the pub.
I used to think of exhibitions as being practice but they are not.
I was mad-keen on poker as a kid. It was like the snooker, pulling me into that same smokey atmosphere I loved.
People appreciate anyone who takes chances - they like a bit of flair.
Golf and snooker are similar. They are ball games that you don't have to be super fit for. It's not like boxing or football when, at 35, you are on your way home.
To be honest, most of my troubles - bankruptcy, drinking, gambling - were self-inflicted.
In a way, sometimes I was quite pleased when I got beat, 'cos then I could do my antics.
I grew up in south London and spent most of my adolescence in the snooker halls of the area, turning professional at 17.
Snooker lifted me out of depression.
Talent, it can become a trap.
I like the hypnosis. Nothing too deep - just enough to keep me clearer and more focused.
We play Snooker Legends exhibitions and there is never a spare ticket.
I'm such an addictive personality that I can say yes or no.
It meant so much to me lifting the Alex Higgins Trophy at Goffs.
From having no money and coming from a very proud working class family, it was tough. But then all of a sudden we had loads and loads of cash. I realised that this was a great opportunity to do what I love for a living. I was going to tournaments up and down the country and I was able to win anything from five to seven thousand pounds.
I was a beat-the-system sort of player, but you can't beat the system, you have to prepare properly.
Not only did I have to face the great Steve Davis for 10 years, Stephen Hendry came along, who attacked the balls. He was such an incredible potter with self-belief.
I don't drink. Don't smoke.
I love playing in Ireland and I've had great support here, like I get everywhere.
Do I have any regrets about my life? No.
I really enjoy working as a pundit.
I learnt the game as a kid hustling car dealers for cash.
Because I could do things on the snooker table that no other player could do, I just had this sort of self-destruct button in me.
If I didn't think I could win the World Championship I would go and play golf badly in Spain.
One of my great heroes was my brother. You couldn't have dreamt of a better one.
I've played 8-ball in Hong Kong and I'm more knowledgeable with that than 9-ball.
First thing about snooker, find a cue you're happy with. Then stick with it.
I have always loved playing snooker.
That's the hardest part of the game. You've got to stay focused. With golf, make a mistake and you get another shot straight away; but with snooker you could be five minutes before you get another chance.
I've been gambling since the age of 12. Horses, dogs, dice, roulette, you name it.
We go out and have a drink occasionally. We're quite happy to go for a nice meal and go the theatre or something.
Ronnie O'Sullivan, the greatest snooker player ever, will tell you that he doesn't practise. I'm not having that. I call him Roger, after Federer, because he's a genius. He doesn't like that nickname.
Snooker's only popular in China now. Well China's OK to go to once or twice a year but to go and play six or seven tournaments there is too much.
In the past it sometimes took me two or three rounds to get the adrenaline rush.
I was introduced to the game by my father, Tommy, when I was 11.
Ronnie is a very clever winner. He will make sure that he does everything in his power to win the tournament. He is super-fit.
I think boxing is a fantastic sport.
I think I should win every tournament I enter.
I used to be jack the lad, I was out a lot, I was mainly waking up with hangovers at tournaments rather than preparing.
I would have prepared differently before big matches but I wouldn't change my life.
I play golf but very badly.
I was never a playboy but I was an out and about boy.
On my 50th birthday the Rolling Stones played at my party at Grosvenor House. That's not bad for a kid from Tooting.
Listen, I could have won the World Championship. Obviously if I had the chance to do it all again I would do things differently. But then would I have still wanted to play?
The trouble started when I won the world amateur title in 1980, aged 18. People began talking about me as the next star of the game. But I also started to get recognised more and I wasn't prepared for it.
Most gamblers do it for ego. It's not about winning or losing, it's about challenging your ego and showing your mates you're fearless and will bet on anything.
Related Authors
Benjamin Disraeli Quotes
British
Celebrity
Bertrand Russell Quotes
British
Celebrity
Bobby Fischer Quotes
American
Celebrity
Fred Rogers Quotes
American
Celebrity
G-Eazy Quotes
American
Celebrity
Garry Kasparov Quotes
Russian
Celebrity
Gary Johnson Quotes
American
Celebrity
Jimmy Carter Quotes
American
Celebrity
Joe Buck Quotes
American
Celebrity
Jonathan Franzen Quotes
American
Celebrity
Ken Wilber Quotes
American
Celebrity
Kim Kardashian Quotes
American
Celebrity
Lord Chesterfield Quotes
British
Celebrity
Paris Hilton Quotes
American
Celebrity
Richard Simmons Quotes
American
Celebrity
Tom Petty Quotes
American
Celebrity