Martina Navratilova Quotes

20 Sourced Quotes

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

Martina Navratilova
Whoever said 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts' probably lost.

Martina Navratilova
Labels are for filing, labels are for clothing, labels are not for people.

Martina Navratilova
The longer I stay in the States, the more I understand how important it is to smile and seem like a nice guy. Like Ronald Reagan. Your image seems to count more than what you do.

Martina Navratilova
The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What's the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?

Martina Navratilova
I came to live in a country I love; some people label me a defector. I have loved men and women in my life; I've been labelled 'the bisexual defector' in print. Want to know another secret? I'm even ambidextrous. I don't like labels. Just call me Martina.

Martina Navratilova
Keeping a journal of what's going on in your life is a good way to help you distill what's important and what's not.

Martina Navratilova
I'm not just involved in tennis but committed. Do you know the difference between involvement and commitment? Think of ham and eggs. The chicken is involved. The pig is committed.

Martina Navratilova
The moment I stepped onto that crunchy red clay, felt the grit under my sneakers, felt the joy of smacking a ball over the net, I knew I was in the right place. I was probably about six years old.

Martina Navratilova
Changes made to please others are unrealistic, but more important, they're unfair to you.

Martina Navratilova
The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.

Martina Navratilova
I'm not a one-sex person, and yet I hate the term bisexual. It sounds creepy to me, and I don't think I'm creepy. There are times when I feel downright romantic.

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

Martina Navratilova
Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path. Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back.

Martina Navratilova
In Czechoslovakia there is no such thing as freedom of the press. In the United States there is no such thing as freedom from the press.

Martina Navratilova
My game was rushing the net, playing aggressively, playing for fun, playing to win.... there are times when I've played my life just like a tennis game.

Martina Navratilova
Do what you love and love what you do and everything else is detail.

Martina Navratilova
Being blunt with your feelings is very American. In this big country, I can be as brash as New York, as hedonistic as Los Angeles, as sensuous as San Francisco, as brainy as Boston, as proper as Philadelphia, as brawny as Chicago, as warm as Palm Springs, as friendly as my adopted home town of Dallas, Fort Worth, and as peaceful as the inland waterway that rubs up against my former home in Virginia Beach.

Martina Navratilova
People in the States used to think that if girls were good at sports their sexuality would be affected. Being feminine meant being a cheerleader, not being an athlete. The image of women is changing now. You don't have to be pretty for people to come and see you play. At the same time, if you're a good athlete, it doesn't mean you're not a woman.

Martina Navratilova
People who are rich want to be richer, but what's the difference? The toys get different, that's all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It's all relative.

Martina Navratilova