Martina Navratilova Quotes

“After I retired, I was in Aspen, and after two months of being at home, I started to go nuts. I needed to go somewhere because that was the longest I never travelled.”

“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.”

“Gender is irrelevant. Certainly the tennis ball doesn't know what the gender was of the tennis coach.”

“Goodbye 2010. If you were a fish, I'd throw you back.”

“I am healthy. I have been blessed with a very good body, and I have worked hard at it. I had surgery on my toe, and I'm still recovering from that. That's the only joint that was hurting. Earlier, I had a knee replacement, hip replacement, shoulder surgeries, but I have been lucky. I don't feel any pain when I play.”

“I am just sorry my own mother had to live under that regime for most of her life. I was lucky. I got out and, 14 years later, Czechoslovakia became a free country. So I feel anger, even fury, at this bloody system that ruined so many people's lives for no reason whatsoever.”

“I can teach many sports, but obviously, tennis is the one. When you do other sports, you see things from different perspectives: different footwork drills, body positions, angles and geometry. All that stuff is helpful, and so when I do other sports, I can see things, because once you know one sport, then the other sport becomes more clear.”

“I didn't realize until I was doing commentary what a gladiator-like competition tennis is – other than no one dies. The crowd is waiting for the players to come, and they walk through the tunnel, and they get on the court, and they get out their rackets, their weapons, and now they start.”

“I do get pissed off when I'm at some gay event, and there's a 25-year-old, and he has no idea who I am. And I say, 'You need to know more about your gay history, boy.' I think the younger generation takes it a little bit for granted.”

“I hope, when I stop, people will think that somehow I mattered.”

“I just try to concentrate on concentrating.”

“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 shouldn't say I'm looking forward to leading a normal life, because I don't know what normal is.”

“I think men are more adventurous in that they're more likely to take chances. Women play it safe. But now, maybe more of the women that see how it's working for the guys think, 'I can do that, too'. Maybe they'll pick male players, not necessarily female players; it's just whatever that match is that works for that player.”

“I think the key is for women not to set any limits.”

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

“I was political by coming out of the womb. I was gay, and I wanted to play tennis.”

“I'll do some running with the dogs, ride a bike; if I go to gym it's usually for cardio. I don't do weights as much; every once in while, I throw in some pushups and do leg exercises to strengthen my legs.”

“I'm 58 years old. I got married for the first time – it's about time, right? Growing up as a gay woman, you just don't ever think about that, and then I thought, about 10 years ago, 'You know, I think within 10 years gay marriage will be legal.' And here we are, 10 years later, making it legal.”

“I've a great family, two children to take care of. Then, of course, I do commentary for TV. I do speak about various women's issues around the world – like LGBT, motivational speeches. I have a lot on my plate right now. But eventually, yes, I would like to pass on the knowledge and something that I would like to do.”

“I've always been a rebel, always curious about the world around me.”

“I've been active in animal rights and all kinds of environmental stuff and children's charities over the years.”

“I've been in the twilight of my career longer than most people have had their career.”

“I've given many lessons in many sports over the years to many different people.”

“If a man can coach a female, why can't a female coach a male? When I was looking for a coach, the gender of the coach never occurred to me. It was about who I thought was good and who I could get along with and listen to.”

“If I feel strongly, I say it. I know I can do more good by being vocal than by staying quiet. I'd have a whole lot more money if I lied, but I wouldn't enjoy spending it.”

“It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't.”

“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?”

“Just by being out you're doing your part. It's like recycling. You're doing your part for the environment if you recycle; you're doing your part for the gay movement if you're out.”

“Just go out there and do what you have to do.”