A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.
Arthur AsheRead
You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing.
Interpretation
Prioritize the effort and journey over the outcome.
Arthur Ashe emphasizes that in life, the act of striving towards goals and taking chances is more valuable than merely achieving victory or fearing defeat. This perspective encourages individuals to embrace challenges and pursue their passions without the overbearing pressure of winning, highlighting the importance of growth and experience in the process.
In practice
In a speech to motivate students at graduation.
A wise person decides slowly but abides by these decisions.
When we were together, I loved you deeply and you gave me so much happiness I can never repay you.
I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else.
It is not just the more talented player who wins. Some players may try a little harder.
True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.
Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.
If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress.
I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.
Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is due to the triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it
There are no shortcuts. I approached practices the same way I approached games. You can't turn it on and off like a faucet. I couldn't dog it during practice and then, when I needed that extra push late in the game, expect it to be there. Very few people get anywhere by taking shortcuts.
If you've got the platform and the ability to make a difference, then this goes beyond 'should' and reaches the level of 'must.' You must make a difference or you squander the opportunity. Wasting the opportunity both degrades your own ability to contribute and, more urgently, takes something away from the rest of us.
You cannot wait for someone to save you, to help you, to complete you. No one can complete you. You complete yourself.
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