I was always fighting the establishment, trying to run through brick walls.

John McEnroe Quotes

American - Athlete Born: February 16, 1959

The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose. Life is a learning process and you have to try to learn what's best for you. Let me tell you, life is not fun when you're banging your head against a brick wall all the time. John McEnroe

Against, Important Thing

I was always fighting the establishment, trying to run through brick walls. John McEnroe

Walls, Always, Through

I did a terrible job of composing myself. I was a spoiled brat from Long Island who benefitted from the energy of New York. John McEnroe

Island, New, Long Island

I'd love to see all the guys play their best because I think it's better for tennis. John McEnroe

Love, Think, Play

I'll let the racket do the talking. John McEnroe

Sports, Talking, Racket

I am finicky about making sure my sneakers are pretty tight. It is almost like a superstition for me. John McEnroe

Pretty, Making, Sure

The older I get, the better I used to be. John McEnroe

Better, Older, Get

What is the single most important quality in a tennis champion? I would have to say desire, staying in there and winning matches when you are not playing that well. John McEnroe

Winning, Desire, Staying

Everybody loves success, but they hate successful people. John McEnroe

Success, Everybody, Loves

The good part of having six kids is, there's always one who wants to hug you and say, 'Daddy, I love you.' John McEnroe

Love, Always, Having

Top 10
John McEnroe
Quotes

I'm a tell-it-like-it-is kind of person; I don't like being misled or someone not telling the truth. That upsets me. John McEnroe

Kind, Like, Telling

I think the players, I put in the book for example that we should go back to wood rackets, probably they laughed at me, I'm a dinosaur, but I think that you see these great players, have even more variety and you see more strategy, there'd be more subtlety. John McEnroe

Book, I Think, Subtlety

I was always taught that you needed to be intense and never lose your focus. John McEnroe

Always, Never, Taught

Jack Nicholson didn't get anything until he was in his thirties. You have to persevere and put yourself in positions, and sooner or later, you will break through. John McEnroe

Persevere, Through, Sooner

When I walk out there on court, I become a maniac... Something comes over me, man. John McEnroe

Me, Over, Maniac

It's ironic - people used to want to suspend me and talk about how bad my behaviour was, but now they like it when I shout and scream. John McEnroe

Bad, Ironic, Suspend

If Roger stopped right now and never won another match, to me he'd already be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. To me, he's the greatest all around talent that I've ever seen. John McEnroe

Game, Play, Stopped

You have to keep persevering. An actor goes to a lot of auditions and doesn't get the part. John McEnroe

Actor, Persevering, Lot

They should be required to be in less events; there should be less events for the women. It seems it takes an actual meltdown on the court or women quitting the game altogether before they realize there's a need to change the schedule. John McEnroe

Game, Before, Actual

Well I think that's probably one of a few, where I grew up in the City of New York, it's got a lot of energy, my parents are Irish-American so there was a bit of yelling going on in my house but it seemed normal. John McEnroe

City, I Think, Yelling

Do you have any problems, other than that you're unemployed, a moron, and a dork? John McEnroe

Other, Than, Moron

London is great, but New York is the greatest city in the world. John McEnroe

World, London, New

You hit a wall at some stage when you don't want it so bad, but you don't know when that's going to be - as far as competition or as far as health is concerned. Sometimes it's just natural. You just taste it, and you want it so bad that you find other gears. John McEnroe

Bad, Other, Some

I like John McCain, or he seems like a cool guy in a lot of ways. I don't agree with a lot of his policies, but he still seems like a cool guy. John McEnroe

Cool Guy, Still, Like

I don't really know why I started playing as a kid, but I grew up in Queens, New York, not too far from Forest Hills, where they played the U.S. Open in those days. I even got to be a ball boy there. Also, there was a tennis court just a block away from our house, and I'd hang out down there. John McEnroe

Forest, Away, Hang

I was a different kind of player as a kid and didn't do too much shouting and screaming. If things didn't go my way, I tended to get a bit overwhelmed. All I wanted to do was cry on my mom's shoulder. I didn't know how to handle defeat in front of a crowd, and I didn't want to be the loser. John McEnroe

Kid, Crowd, Different Kind

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