I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century:
that a writer never complains, never explains read more

I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century:
that a writer never complains, never explains and never disdains.

It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.

It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.

The real contest is always between what you've done and what you're capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself read more

The real contest is always between what you've done and what you're capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else.

to be nobody-but-myself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me everybody else means, read more

to be nobody-but-myself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me everybody else means, to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease.

Life is a sexually transmitted disease.

Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.

Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.

Hope is an orientation of spirit, an orientation of the
heart. It is not the conviction that something will turn read more

Hope is an orientation of spirit, an orientation of the
heart. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the
certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

He who hesitates is probably right.

He who hesitates is probably right.

If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment. That quality is important because read more

If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life, and there's going to be a life after tennis that's a lot longer than your tennis life.