Playing tennis, I didn't tie in my self-worth into winning or losing matches.
Martina NavratilovaRead
I never felt I had anything to hide. I never felt being gay was anything to be ashamed of, so I never felt apologetic. I didn't have issues with it, didn't grow up with any religion, so I didn't have any religious, you know, issues to deal with as far as homosexuality is concerned. So, I accepted it very easily. For me, it wasn't that big a deal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker embraces their identity without shame or fear, highlighting the importance of self-acceptance.
In this quote, Martina Navratilova expresses a sense of pride and comfort in her sexual orientation. She emphasizes that her acceptance of being gay comes from a lack of shame or religious constraints, which allowed her to live authentically without the burden of societal judgment. This perspective promotes the idea that self-acceptance is vital to personal happiness and courage in the face of societal norms.
Themes
AcceptanceIdentityHomosexualityPrideCourage
In practice
Example use cases
During LGBTQ+ awareness events to encourage self-acceptance.
More from Martina Navratilova
All quotes →I just wanted to play tennis. It wasn't a job. It was an ambition. I knew I could make money at it. I was 18 - old enough to think I could do it, young enough not to consider the consequences.
Martina NavratilovaRead
To those people doubting Serena Williams, writing her off - do not do that to a champion.
Martina NavratilovaRead
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.
Martina NavratilovaRead
So many athletes are afraid to use their platform to do the right thing and speak what they feel, and that's very depressing. Sure, they are afraid of insulting people and losing money because of it, and everyone wants to make the maximum amount of money in their lifetime. But at the expense of who you are? I don't know. That just wasn't in my DNA.
Martina NavratilovaRead
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.
Martina NavratilovaRead
Similar quotes
Women throughout history have had to defy rigid conventions about what is and is not expected of them.
Margaret MacmillanRead
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica JongRead
Fighter pilots have ice in their veins. They don't have emotions. They think, anticipate. They know that fear and other concerns cloud your mind from what's going on and what you should be involved in.
Buzz AldrinRead
In 1989, a lone and still-anonymous Chinese student stood unarmed in front of a Chinese tank and gave the world an enduring image of the determination of China's young to change their nation. He didn't text message the tank or share a video on YouTube.
Tom BrokawRead
The war had made a man of him! It had coarsened him and hardened him. There was no other way to look at it. It had made him reach a point at which he would no longer stand unbearable things.
Ford Madox FordRead
With the knowledge of her aloneness came a rush of self-declaration: “I will not be nothing.”
Robin MckinleyRead