Quotes from Andre Agassi

we must all care for one another—this is our task in life. But also we must care for ourselves, which means we must be careful in our decisions, careful in our relationships, careful in our statements. We must manage our lives carefully, in order to avoid becoming victims. I feel as if he's speaking directly to me, as if he's aware that I've been careless with my talent and my health.

Te das cuenta, verdad, de que Dios no se parece en nada a tu padre? Eso lo sabes, ¿verdad? Estoy a punto de llevar el coche al arcén. Dios, dice, es lo contrario de tu padre. Dios no está siempre enfadado contigo. Dios no te grita al oído, no te mortifica con tus imperfecciones. Esa voz que oyes continuamente, esa voz airada… Ése no es Dios. Ése sigue siendo tu padre.

I hate tennis.

When I do something perfect, I enjoy a split second of sanity and calm.

Pero, ¿y si resulta que estoy jugando lo mejor que sé, si me preocupo, si quiero ganar, y aun así no soy el mejor del mundo? Eso, dímelo tú. ¿Y si no lo eres? Creo que preferiría morir. Me apoyo en la barandilla y sollozo. J. P. tiene la decencia, la sabiduría de no decir ni hacer nada. Sabe que no hay nada que decir, salvo esperar a que se extinga el fuego.

Life is a tennis match between polar opposites. Winning and losing, love and hate, open and closed. It helps to recognize that painful fact early. Then recognize the polar opposites within yourself, and if you can't embrace them, or reconcile them, at least accept them and move on.

If he grows up to be half the man you are, he'll be phenomenally successful, and if I can be half the father you've been to me, I'll have surpassed my own standards.

Ya encontrarás una solución, me dice J. P. ¿Cómo? ¿Qué solución? No lo sé. Pero la encontrarás. Ésta es una crisis momentánea, Andre. Una de tantas. Y, tan seguro como que estamos aquí sentados, vendrán otras. Grandes, pequeñas y de todas las gamas intermedias. Enfréntate a esta crisis como una práctica para las crisis futuras.

Maybe they're confused because I don't tell them the full story, don't explain my full motivation. I can't, since I'm only slowly becoming aware of it myself. I play and keep playing because I choose to play. Even if it's not your ideal life, you can always choose it. No matter what your life is, choosing it changes everything.

My father says he doesn't like hawks because they swoop down on mice and other defenseless desert creatures. He can't stand the thought of something strong preying on something weak.

But if tennis is life, then what follows tennis must be the unknowable void. The thought makes me cold.

You'll hear a lot of applause in your life, but none will mean more to you than that applause from your peers. I hope each of you hears that at the end.

You don't cheat anybody out of their experience, whatever it is.

I think one of the greatest joys I have now in my career and in my profession is to be playing at an age where I can appreciate it more than I used to... It's a whole different lens you look through the older you get.

What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.

If you don't practice you don't deserve to win.

What you feel doesn't matter in the end; it's what you do that makes you brave.

I'm going to have to pick my shots and play great tennis.

It's always been eclectic; you never know what you're going to get.

I always felt tennis and winning was a byproduct of doing everything right.

Even if it's not your ideal life, you can always choose it. No matter what your life is, choosing it changes everything.

That's the greatest applause that any person will ever receive in their life when it comes from their peers

You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.

Remember this. Hold on to this. This is the only perfection there is, the perfection of helping others. This is the only thing we can do that has any lasting meaning. This is why we're here. To make each other feel safe.