Here are some interesting expressions or quotations.  Some of them actually have to do with tennis. 
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QUOTES

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"I like to let my racket do the talking."  -  Rod Laver, two-time calendar Grand Slam winner (1962, 1969)

"Why is tennis considered a difficult sport to learn and to improve upon?  Mostly because of widely taught misconceptions that cripple a player's natural ability and make coordination as difficult as walking with several crutches at the same time  ...  The truth is that tennis is a simple game and easy to learn."
   -  Oscar Wegner, from  play better tennis in 2 hours (2005) 
  http://tennisteacher.com/

"You're only as good as your second serve."   -  possibly from Jack Kramer

"One of the differences between a good college player and a professional is that the professional knows how to lob and actually uses it."   -  unknown

"Never ask a better player to hit with you.  You will either be turned down or the better player will sulk while he ungraciously hits with you. If three good players are looking for a forth, don't offer your services, even if you do so modestly ('I know I'm not so good, but I would be happy to fill in if you want me')." 
  -  Pancho Segura, from Pancho Segura's Championship Strategy  (1976, with Gladys Heldman)

"Chuck, did the court move?"  -   Fred Earle Jr, after I shanked a passing shot, neglecting to watch the ball.

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."  -  Satchel Paige

"Just take the ball and throw it where you want to.  Throw strikes.  Home plate don't move."  -  Satchel Paige

"Any ball that cannot be called out is considered to have been good.  A player may not claim a let on the basis of not seeing a ball.  One of tennis' most infuriating moments occurs after a long, hard rally when a player makes a clean placement and the opponent says:  'I'm not sure if it was good or out.  Let's play a let.'  Remember, it is each player's responsibility to call all balls landing on, or aimed at, the player's side of the net.  If a ball can't be called out with certainty, it is good.  When you say your opponent's shot was really out but you offer to replay the point to give your opponent a break, you are deluding yourself because you must have had some doubt." 
      - Col. Nick Powell, author of "The Code: The Players' Guide for Unofficiated Matches."

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."  -  Yogi Berra

"Get one more ball back."   -  unknown

"How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!"  -  Proverbs 16:16

"Once you're through learning, you're through."  -  Warren Spahn

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."  -  John Wooden

"What a player says, and how he says it, makes a big difference to his standing among well-bred tennis people.  The wrong words, or even the wrong tone of voice, can stigmatize a player.  This works the other way too.  A player can win himself some quiet admiration by saying the right thing at the right time."
     -  Bob Harman, from Use Your Head in Tennis (1974).

"Practice may not make perfect, but believe me, it has made many a good tennis player.  I am a great believer in practice, but above all in intensive practice.  My idea of intensive practice is to pick out one stroke and hammer away at that shot until it is completely mastered."  -  Bill Tilden, from Match Play and The Spin of the Ball (1925)

"Never be afraid to try something new.  Remember, amateurs built the ark.  Professionals built the Titanic."
       - Unknown from http://thinkexist.com

Special section from Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965):

     "If you're going through hell, keep going."

     "Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm"

     "The price of greatness is responsibility."

     "We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out."

     "My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me."

     "There is no such thing as a good tax."     

     "If this is a blessing, it is certainly very well disguised."

     "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

     "I like pigs.  Dogs look up to us.  Cats look down on us.  Pigs treat us as equals."

     "It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also important to be right."

     "Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that               is an outrage."


"Keep calm and carry on"  -  slogan used by the British government during the World War II years

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"You may not embark on a career with the pro's, but to me the main thing is to play and enjoy - to be a respectable hacker.  There are more of us hackers than there are wage-earning pros, and we have a lot more fun than they do.
Remember, blessed be the hackers, for we shall inherit the mirth ..."  
    - Bud Collins, from his foreword in Oscar Wegner's book:  You Can Play ... Tennis in 2 Hours (1992)
[Note: The word hacker in this quote has nothing to do with computers.  It's kind of a derogatory, sarcastic, and oftentimes humorous word, usually describing a player whose skill level is mediocre or just plain lousy.  On the other hand, sometimes a very strong player will call himself a hacker, just to add a little fun to things.]

"God save me from my friends. I can protect myself from my enemies."
        - Claude Louis Hector De Villars (1653 - 1734)

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.   We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream.   It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same"
           - Ronald Reagan

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money"
            - Margaret Thatcher

"The welfare state has always been judged by its good intentions, rather than its bad results."
            - Thomas Sowell

"Be careful what you wish for"
            - unknown origin

"If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."
            - Margaret Thatcher

"Day in and day out, tennis matches are not won by making big shots.  They are won by getting the routine service returns in court, making the easy volley and hanging tough throughout the match.  It is the losers who are always in trouble and trying to extricate themselves with streaks of brilliance.  The players who make all those great shots and come off the court wondering why they have lost need look no further for the answer than all those counterbalancing unforced errors."
     -  Allen Fox, from  If I'm The Better Player, Why Can't I Win?  (1979, with Richard Evans)

A few quotes from http://www.bullyonline.org:

     "One would not expect a victim of rape to have to single-handedly identify, trace, catch, arrest, prosecute, convict,
      and punish the person who raped her.  Targets of bullying often find themselves doing all of these whilst those in
      positions of authority persistently abdicate and deny responsibility."  -  Tim Field

     "I just want the bullying to stop.  That is all I ever wanted.  I used to love going to school.  Now I hate it."
          - Name withheld, at nine years of age

     "The word mobbing is preferred to bullying in continental Europe and in those situations where a target is selected
       and bullied (mobbed) by a group of people rather than by one individual."

     "Nothing can prepare you for living or working with a sociopathic serial bully. It is the most devastating, draining,
      misunderstood, and ultimately futile experience imaginable.  -  Tim Field

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.  This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."  -  Mark Twain, from Pudd'inhead Wilson

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble.  It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.
     - Mark Twain

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."  -  Andy Rooney

"You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, 'cause you might not get there."  -  Yogi Berra

[Talking about Djkovic] "He's tenacious.  Very good groundstrokes, mixes the game up.  He's got that forehand he can hit flat, or roll over it, and he can do the same on the backhand side - slice it sharply across the court, or put the double-hander into play.  But mostly, it's that he hits the ball so deep.  You can't attack it."
             -  Rod Laver, quoted in an article by Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2013

Special section from Will Rogers:

      "If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"

      "Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."

       "Never miss a good chance to shut up."

      "The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket."

      "There are two theories to arguing with a woman ... neither works." 

      "There are three kinds of men:  The ones that learn by reading.  The few who learn by observation.
               The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves."

      "Never kick a cow chip on a hot day."

      "Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back."

"I'm not what I ought to be;
Not what I want to be;
Not what I am going to be;
But I'm thankful I am not what I used to be."
  -  John Wooden, from The Essential Wooden,  (2007, with Steve Jamison)

"Smooth sailing never made a good sailor."  -  Smith Fulmor, sea captain (1832-1921)

"Nobody's perfect."  -  Patricio Cornejo

"My parents had me absolutely convinced that ... you may not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth's, but you can be president of the United States."
     -  Condoleeza Rice, from "Condi: The Condoleeza Rice Story," by Antonia Felix (2002).

"While adversity is inevitable, negative thinking is optional."
     -  Tom Veneziano, teaching professional, writer, and creator of   www.tenniswarrior.com

"If you're paid before you walk on the court, what's the point in playing as if your life depended on it?"
     - Arthur Ashe, denouncing exhibitions and legitimate tournaments in which players receive appearance money
             [from You Can Quote Me On That, by Paul Fein, ISBN: 1-57488-925-7.]

"When you haven't got it, you really want it; when you have it, you really don't want it"
      Patrick Rafter, Australian her and dual U.S. Open champion, on the paradox of fame [from You Can Quote Me On That, by Paul Fein, ISBN: 1-57488-925-7.

"I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would have me."  -  Groucho Marx

"Life is a kind of chess, in which we often have points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are in some degree the effects of prudence or the want of it."      -  Ben Franklin

"It's nice to be important - but it's more important to be nice."
   - an expression of Roger Federer's, printed in The Roger Federer Story (published 2007, by René Stauffer)

"There is no substitute for hard work.  There will be disappointments, but the harder you work, the luckier you will get.  Never be satisfied with less than your best effort.  If you strive for the top and miss, you'll still 'beat the pack.' " 
   -  President Gerald R. Ford, quoted in Bollettieri's Tennis Handbook (2001).

"Just say no to cortisone"
    -  Allan Levy, M.D., and Mark Fuerst, from Tennis Injury Handbook, in a section on tennis elbow

A good one from chess:  "It never feels good to lose, but we all do occasionally, and it is rude to display your disappointment by crying or carrying on or any such emotional outburst (unless it is an online game, where the opponent is not subjected to your outburst).  Likewise, winning might make you want to burst with joy, but don't celebrate in front of the player you just beat; it's rude."
    -   Eric Schiller, FIDE Chess Master, from The Official Rules of Chess (2001)

"You better cut the pizza into four pieces, because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."
       - Yogi Berra, quoted in Take Your Tennis ON TOUR, by Bonita L. Marks, Ph.D. (2006).

 

 

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Chuck says:   For about 100 years after the first Wimbledon was held in 1877, tennis players were basically silent while the ball was in play.  And then, in the late 1970's and early 1980's, somebody figured out that by making loud vocal noises, he/she could irritate the opponent.  And so, today, we have players moaning, grunting, screaming, and even howling when they hit the ball. Young people might think this stuff is normal, but in the long term, it's really not.  Despite many complaints and advice to avoid grunting from the The Code section of the USTA rule books, the ITF has not written any official rules banning this particular type of gamesmanship.

 

 

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