Top 50 Martina Navratilova Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.”

— Martina Navratilova

2. “Once you start believing in yourself, anything is possible. Once you start believing in yourself, your dreams take shape. The more you believe, the more you achieve.”

— Martina Navratilova

3. “Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but now it’s a necessity all the time.”

— Martina Navratilova

4. “Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts,’ probably lost.”

— Martina Navratilova

5. “Labels are for filing. Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.”

— Martina Navratilova

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

— Martina Navratilova

7. “The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.”

— Martina Navratilova

8. “The better I get, the more I realize how much better I can get.”

— Martina Navratilova

9. “Just go out there and do what you’ve got to do.”

— Martina Navratilova

10. “The tennis ball doesn’t know how old I am. The ball doesn’t know if I’m a man or a woman or if I come from a communist country or not. Sport has always broken down these barriers.”

— Martina Navratilova

11. “Remember this: You are the benchmark of your success – you define it. Don’t let anyone else define it because if you do, you will fail. Appreciate those who support you and challenge those who don’t.”

— Martina Navratilova

12. “I think the key is for women not to set any limits.”

— Martina Navratilova

13. “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

14. “I shouldn’t say I’m looking forward to leading a normal life, because I don’t know what normal is. This has been normal for me.”

— Martina Navratilova

15. “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

16. “The mark of great sportsmen is not how good they are at their best, but how good they are their worst.”

— Martina Navratilova

17. “No matter where I go, I always make friends at the bridge table.”

— Martina Navratilova

18. “What matters isn’t how well you play when you’re playing well. What matters is how well you play when you’re playing badly.”

— Martina Navratilova

19. “Tennis has given me soul.”

— Martina Navratilova

20. “If it feels right in your gut, this is who you are, this is what you do, this is what you feel, then don’t hide that. You just stick to it and the world will catch up.”

— Martina Navratilova

21. “I am not looking for perfection. I look for the best in me.”

— Martina Navratilova

22. “Life is about challenges and how we face up to them and the attitude we take into every day life so hopefully we’ll be able to motivate people to do more with their life.”

— Martina Navratilova

23. “Just by being out you’re doing your part. It’s like recycling. You’re doing your part for the environment if you recycle; you’re doing your part for the gay movement if you’re out.”

— Martina Navratilova

24. “Sachin was so focused. He never looked like getting out. He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson.”

— Martina Navratilova

25. “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 labeled the bisexual defector. Want to know another secret? I’m even ambidextrous. I don’t like labels. Just call me Martina.”

— Martina Navratilova

26. “I just try to concentrate on concentrating.”

— Martina Navratilova

27. “I would have drunk a lot of Pinot Grigio if I’d lost after leading 5-2 in the third.”

— Martina Navratilova

28. “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

29. “My worst memory is of my first dance lesson as a 14-year old in Prague. My mother put me in this silver and pink lame dress. My hair was all curled, and it was the first time I wore a garter belt. I felt so out of place!”

— Martina Navratilova

30. “I’ve been in the twilight of my career longer than most people have had their career.”

— Martina Navratilova

31. “I’m not involved in tennis but committed.”

— Martina Navratilova

32. “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

33. “I’ve been active in animal rights and all kinds of environmental stuff and children’s charities over the years.”

— Martina Navratilova

34. “All top players are the same strokewise, but mentally I can improve and that’s where it’s at for top players.”

— Martina Navratilova

35. “I haven’t bought any leather articles for a very long time. My ideal is to be able to avoid all animal products, in food as well as clothing.”

— Martina Navratilova

36. “When one man becomes more important than the country he’s supposed to be leading, this will always create a problem.”

— Martina Navratilova

37. “Changes made to please others are unrealistic, but more important, they’re unfair to you.”

— Martina Navratilova

38. “What I would tell girls coming up is just be yourself and don’t let people get in the way.”

— Martina Navratilova

39. “Variety is what I would recommend: As variety is the spice of life in food, so it is in exercise. Change it up. But most of all, don’t overdo it.”

— Martina Navratilova

40. “The more people come out, the less it will be an issue. Of we are ashamed of ourselves, how the hell can we expect the rest of the world not to be ashamed of us?”

— Martina Navratilova

41. “If I feel strongly, I say it. I know I can do more good by being vocal than by staying quiet. I’d have a whole lot more money if I lied, but I wouldn’t enjoy spending it.”

— Martina Navratilova

42. “On Chris Evert: Before I even met her, she stood for everything I admired in this country: poise, ability, sportsmanship, money, style.”

— Martina Navratilova

43. “You can’t live in the past, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

— Martina Navratilova

44. “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

45. “There is no cheap way to achieve the ability to turn pro in tennis; it unfortunately is more expensive than team sports.”

— Martina Navratilova

46. “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

47. “Follow an exercise routine in which there is no routine. Whenever something becomes routine, you don’t pay attention to it anymore. I rarely do the same routine twice which keeps me interested and focused.”

— Martina Navratilova

48. “The more people come out, the less it will be an issue.”

— Martina Navratilova

49. “I hit some great shots in my lifetime; now I hit a decent shot and I get a standing ovation.”

— Martina Navratilova

50. “Losing still hurts, but that’s good. When it stops hurting, that’s when I stop playing.”

— Martina Navratilova