Top 117 Quotes & Sayings by Martina Navratilova - Page 2

I regret that I had to leave my country. But I had to do it in order to achieve and decide my own fate. I was forced into it. Democracy came about 15 years too late for me. But I have to say that it's there now, and Czech Republic is a fantastic country; it always was but just had the wrong regime at the top.

Julia, I promise to love you, to cherish you, in sickness and in health. No matter what, I will be there for you and our family. I promise not to make the social media another member of our family.

I tell you, if I was in the same position I was in 1975, trying to leave a communist country and trying to live a free life, America is not the country that I would think about going to considering how many rights the GOP is trying to take away.

I know propaganda when I see it, and I can speak with authority on it.

The Czech tennis federation wasn't holding me back, but they could still pull the plug anytime they wanted.

I really couldn't come out until after I got my citizenship, because it was a disclaim - back then, it could have been a disqualifier. I could have been denied my U.S. citizenship because I was gay. So I didn't - I stayed quiet.

I just wanted to play tennis. It wasn't a job. It was an ambition. I knew I could make money at it. I was 18 - old enough to think I could do it, young enough not to consider the consequences.

I was always controversial, being gay, so nothing was more controversial than that.

For six years, I was really on my own and did not have a coach.

It takes a lot of guts to come out to your friends and family. For most gay people, coming out is the most traumatic experience in their life because of the worry about the backlash: 'What's going to happen? Are my parents going to accept me? Are my friends going to accept me? Are my sisters and brothers going to accept me?'

I never felt I had anything to hide. I never felt being gay was anything to be ashamed of, so I never felt apologetic. I didn't have issues with it, didn't grow up with any religion, so I didn't have any religious, you know, issues to deal with as far as homosexuality is concerned. So, I accepted it very easily. For me, it wasn't that big a deal.

There was a joke in Czechoslovakia: The Communist Party dance, it's one step forward, two steps backward, and everyone is still clapping.

On Chris Evert: Before I even met her, she stood for everything I admired in this country: poise, ability, sportsmanship, money, style.

Losing still hurts, but that's good. When it stops hurting, that's when I stop playing.

Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but now it's a necessity all the time.

All top players are the same strokewise, but mentally I can improve and that's where it's at for top players.

I'm an American. You can't go on where you were born. If you do then John McEnroe would be a German.

You don't have to be pretty for people to come and see you play. At the same time, if you're a good athlete, it doesn't mean you're not a woman.

What I would tell girls coming up is just be yourself and don't let people get in the way.

I'm not a one-sex person, and yet I hate the term bisexual. It sounds creepy to me, and I don't think I'm creepy. There are times when I feel downright romantic.

When one man becomes more important than the country he's supposed to be leading, this will always create a problem.

I'm not involved in tennis but committed.

Once you start believing in yourself, anything is possible.

Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path. Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back.

The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What's the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?

I know some of my self-worth comes from tennis, and it's hard to think of doing something else where you know you'll never be thebest. Tennis players are rare creatures: where else in the world can you know that you're the best? The definitiveness of it is the beauty of it, but it's not all there is to life and I'm ready to explore the alternatives.

In Czechoslovakia there is no such thing as freedom of the press. In the United States there is no such thing as freedom from the press.

What matters isn't how well you play when you're playing well. What matters is how well you play when you're playing badly.

People who are rich want to be richer, but what's the difference? The toys get different, that's all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It's all relative.

I came to live in a country I love; some people label me a defector. I have loved men and women in my life; I've been labeled the bisexual defector. Want to know another secret? I'm even ambidextrous. I don't like labels. Just call me Martina.

The better I get, the more I realize how much better I can get.

I hit some great shots in my lifetime; now I hit a decent shot and I get a standing ovation.

The only people that really have a chance against Serena [Williams] are people that are strong, that can handle her power that move well, and that's a difficult combination.

Keeping a journal of what's going on in your life is a good way to help you distill what's important and what's not.

If it feels right in your gut, this is who you are, this is what you do, this is what you feel, then don't hide that. You just stick to it and the world will catch up.

I am not looking for perfection. I look for the best in me.

Concentration is born on the practice court... you must mentally treat your practice sessions as matches, concentrating on every ball you hit.

I haven't bought any leather articles for a very long time. My ideal is to be able to avoid all animal products, in food as well as clothing.

I shouldn't say I'm looking forward to leading a normal life, because I don't know what normal is. This has been normal for me.

I would have drunk a lot of Pinot Grigio if I'd lost after leading 5-2 in the third.

I'd have a whole lot more money if I lied, but I wouldn't enjoy spending it.

The more people come out, the less it will be an issue. Of we are ashamed of ourselves, how the hell can we expect the rest of the world not to be ashamed of us?

People in the States used to think that if girls were good at sports their sexuality would be affected. Being feminine meant being a cheerleader, not being an athlete. The image of women is changing now. You don't have to be pretty for people to come and see you play. At the same time, if you're a good athlete, it doesn't mean you're not a woman.

Just go out there and do what you've got to do.

Being blunt with your feelings is very American. In this big country, I can be as brash as New York, as hedonistic as Los Angeles, as sensuous as San Francisco, as brainy as Boston, as proper as Philadelphia, as brawny as Chicago, as warm as Palm Springs, as friendly as my adopted home town of Dallas, Fort Worth, and as peaceful as the inland waterway that rubs up against my former home in Virginia Beach.

There is no cheap way to achieve the ability to turn pro in tennis; it unfortunately is more expensive than team sports.

The longer I stay in the States, the more I understand how important it is to smile and seem like a nice guy. Like Ronald Reagan. Your image seems to count more than what you do.

No matter where I go, I always make friends at the bridge table

Some players when they become No. 1 they put too much pressure on themselves.

Changes made to please others are unrealistic, but more important, they're unfair to you.

I have always had this outrage at being told what to, how to act, whom to love.

Once you start believing in yourself, anything is possible. Once you start believing in yourself, your dreams take shape. The more you believe, the more you achieve.

The mentality, that's something you should be able to control. Whether you are healthy or not, how fast you can run - they aren't things you can work on, but the mentality should be.

I think retirement beats the heck out of life after death, that's for sure.

Sachin was so focused. He never looked like getting out. He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson.

Lady' is an opinion; 'woman' is a fact.

I've been talking to Martina [Hingis] about playing for a couple of years. Maybe I can convince her to play some doubles.