Now that I'm losing some, I can see how tough I was -- the killer instinct, the single-mindedness, playing like a machine. Boy, that's what made me a champion.

To be a tennis champion, you have to be inflexible. You have to be stubborn. You have to be arrogant. You have to be selfish and self-absorbed. Kind of tunnel vision almost.

You've got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.

My first U.S. Open I think was just very special for me because that was sort of the beginning of what was a 'Cinderella' story for me.

When I play, I'm boiling inside. I just try not to show it because it's a lack of composure, and if you give in to your emotions after one loss, you're liable to have three or four in a row.

If you're a champion, you have to have it in your heart.

Find something that you're really interested in doing in your life. Pursue it, set goals, and commit yourself to excellence. Do the best you can.

You can't give up! If you give up, you're like everybody else.

Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift.

Whatever your goal in life, be proud of every day that you are able to work in that direction.

The difference is almost all mental. The top players just hate to lose. I think that's the difference. A champion hates to lose even more than she loves to win.

I was raised Catholic, but my father's people were Methodist, so we went to both churches.

When you see that many people with a smile on their face, then you must be doing something right.

I've never been drawn to the feminist movement. I was brought up to believe that men had little to do with the home or children - except to bring in the money.

Life takes hold of us with strong hands and makes us greater than we thought.

In Dogtown, skateboards are like bikes to the Chinese.

What cannot be achieved in one lifetime will happen when one lifetime is joined to another.

If it's not impossible, you may as well try. If it is impossible, at least you'll find out why.

The interest of the public is never better advanced than when we can inculcate by our rules the advantage of acting honestly.

Colour is the skin of the world.

Yes, I hate it when people call me a 'national treasure'. It takes away your bite and makes you feel like a harmless old golden Labrador.