Today in History:
Tennis Player Arthur Ashe Announces He Has AIDS/1992
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the U.S. Ashe, an African American, is also remembered for his efforts to further social causes.
Ashe was the first African-American male to reach prominence in tennis and was thus a very public figure, even after his retirement, which followed a 1979 heart attack and quadruple-bypass surgery. In 1983, he contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during a second heart surgery. He kept it a secret until 1992, when a newspaper threatened to publish a story about his illness. His subsequent openness about AIDS helped combat the disease's stigma. What did he say about asking "Why me?"
Quotations:
"Success is a journey, not a destination."
"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."
"You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy."
"If one's reputation is a possession, then of all my possessions, my reputation means most to me."
"I respected the way they stood tall against the sky and insisted on being heard in matters other than Track and Field -- on matters of Civil Rights and social responsibility. I couldn't help but admire them." --- on the Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they did the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City (as quoted by Samuel L. Jackson at the 2008 Espys)
"From what we get, we make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." (paraphrasing Winston Churchill -"You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give")
"I believe I was destined to do more than hit tennis balls"
“If I were to say, God, why me? about the bad things, then I should have said, God, why me? about the good things that happened in my life.”
When he received a letter from a fan which conveyed:”Why did God have to select you for such a bad disease?” Ashe replied: "Listen. 50 million children around the world start playing tennis. 5 million learn to play tennis. 500,000 learn professional tennis. 50,000 come to the circuit. 5000 reach The Grand Slam. 50 reach Wimbledon. 8 reach the Quarterfinals. 4 to the Semifinals. 2 to the Finals. When i was holding the Cup i never asked God: Why me? So why now in pain should I be asking Him: WHY ME?
Source: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
Other Links:
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