Arthur Ashe

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (10 July 1943 – 6 February 1993) was a prominent African American tennis player and an AIDS activist.

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• 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.
  • As quoted in Worth Repeating : More Than 5,000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes (2003) by Bob Kelly, p. 169

Days of Grace : A Memoir (1994)

• I wish more of us could understand that our increasing isolation, no matter how much it seems to express pride and self-affirmation, is not the answer to our problems. Rather, the answer is a revival of our ancient commitment to God, who rules over all the peoples of the world and exalts no one over any other, and to the moral and spiritual values which were once legendary in America. We must reach out our hand in friendship both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy. We must believe in the power of education. We must respect just laws. We must love ourselves, our old and or young, our women as well as our men.
  I see nothing inconsistent between being proud of oneself and one's ancestors and, at the same time, seeing oneself first and foremost a member of the commonwealth of all races and creeds.
  • p. 186

• I may not be walking with you all the way, or even much of the way, as I walk with you now. Don’t be angry with me if I am not there in person, alive and well, when you need me. I would like nothing more than to be with you always. Do not feel sorry for me if I am gone. When we were together, I loved you deeply and you gave me so much happiness I can never repay you. Camera, wherever I am when you feel sick at heart and weary of life, or when you stumble and fall and don’t know if you can get up again, think of me. I will be watching and smiling and cheering you on.
  • Message to his daughter Camera, p. 341

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• Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.
  • Sports Illustrated

• From what we get, we can make a living: what we give, however makes a life.

• Drummed into me, above all, by my dad, by the whole family, was that without your good name, you would be nothing.

• Clothes and manners do not make the man, but where he is made they greatly improve his appearance.

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

• 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.

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

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

• Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

• Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.

• We are 100 percent sure the cause of my HIV infection was a blood transfusion either after my 1979 bypass operation or my 1983 operation. We are 95 percent sure it was the ’83 operation.

• Some folks call tennis a rich people’s sport or a white person’s game. I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do. Later, I discovered there was a lot of work to being good in tennis. You’ve got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.”

• When I took the match point, all the years, all the effort, all the support I had received over the years came together. It’s a long way from Brook Field to Wimbledon.
  • Reflecting back on his 1975 Wimbledon championship

• What it is controlled cool, in a way. Always have the situation under control, even when losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.
  • On his style of play

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

• 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.

• I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments. That's no contribution to society. That [tennis] was purely selfish; that was for me.

• A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.

• Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.

• I know I could never forgive myself if I elected to live without humane purpose, without trying to help the poor and unfortunate, without recognizing that perhaps the purest joy in life comes with trying to help others.

• I wanted to indulge and explore my love of humanity and especially my concern for persons less fortunate than myself.

• I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full.

• I accepted the face that as much as I want to lead others, and love to be around other people, in some essential way, I am something of a loner.

• My only true regret, however, is that now that I see the world more clearly than ever, as I believe I do, I don’t seem to have the time left to translate my visions into action as I would like.

• My potential is more than can be expressed within the bounds of my race or ethnic identity.

• My humanity, in common with all of God’s children, gives the greatest flight to my full range of my possibilities.

• I have always drawn strength from being close to home.

• We must reach out our hand in friendship and dignity both to those who would befriend us and those who would be our enemy.

• I have tried to keep on with my striving because this is the only hope I have of ever achieving anything worthwhile and lasting.

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