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Billie Jean King

14 quotes

A name that surfaces again and again in collections of great quotes, Billie Jean King clearly understood the power of language. The range of their thinking — from Sports to Women — speaks to an intellectual restlessness that shows in every quote. Our collection holds 18 quotes from Billie Jean King, each offering a different angle on Sports, Women, Society, Sad, and Respect. Start here and see if you agree: "I wanted to use sports for social change."

“Sports are a microcosm of society.”

— Billie Jean King

Society

All Quotes by Billie Jean King

“There is no life for girls in team sports past Little League. I got into tennis when I realized this, and because I thought golf would be too slow for me, and I was too scared to swim.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“In 1973, women got 59 cents on the dollar now we are getting 74 cents on the dollar. In the area of finance and business, we are at 68 cents on the dollar.”

— Billie Jean King

Finance

“Men can have a huge turnover of sponsorship and still survive a lot better than the women. But the women's ratings are better, at least at home in the United States than in the men's tennis.”

— Billie Jean King

Home

“I think it's impossible to judge whether another person should come out. You just hope they will on their own time and their own terms.”

— Billie Jean King

Hope

“When they take surveys of women in business, of the Fortune 500, the successful women, 80% of them, say they were in sports as a young woman.”

— Billie Jean King

Business

“Women's sports is still in its infancy. The beginning of women's sports in the United States started in 1972, with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“Women get the attention when we get into the men's arena, and that's sad.”

— Billie Jean King

Sad

“I wanted to use sports for social change.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“Sports are a microcosm of society.”

— Billie Jean King

Society

“Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquillity.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“In the seventies we had to make it acceptable for people to accept girls and women as athletes. We had to make it okay for them to be active. Those were much scarier times for females in sports.”

— Billie Jean King

Sports

“If your partner wants to be private, you have to respect that.”

— Billie Jean King

Respect