Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles.
Ashe was the first black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked world No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine in 1975. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976.
In the early 1980s, Ashe is believed to have contracted HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart bypass surgery. He publicly announced his illness in April 1992 and began working to educate others about HIV and AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health before his death from AIDS-related pneumonia at the age of 49 on February 6, 1993. (via Wikipedia)
Let’s take a look on a few of his quotes and get inspired:
On Life:
You learn about equality in history and civics, but you find out life is not really like that.
You’ve got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.
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.
If you’re paid before you walk on the court, what’s the point in playing as if your life depended on it?
On Success:
One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.
Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome. Not everyone can be Number One.
On Attitude:
The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.
On Love:
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 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.
Other Quotes:
I have tried to keep on with my striving because this is the only hope I have of ever achieving anything worthwhile and lasting.
I have always drawn strength from being close to home.
A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.
I guess I started too early because I just thought it was something fun to do.
When bright young minds can’t afford college, America pays the price.
I don’t care who you are, you’re going to choke in certain matches. You get to a point where your legs don’t move and you can’t take a deep breath. You start to hit the ball about a yard wide, instead of inches.