Serena Jameka Williams is a very famous tennis player and she needs no introduction. However, it’s worth mentioning that she has been ranked world no. 1 by The Women’s Tennis Association eight times between 2002 and 2017. This happened for the first time on July 8th, 2002. At just the age of 37, she has a record of 23 Grand Slam singles wins.

Well, it’s a well-known fact that people who prove to be this great usually had humble beginnings. And yes, this was the case for Serena Williams. She was born on September 26th, 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan. People like Serena are very inspirational and they motivate people not only with their actions but also with their words.

So, here are some quotes by a former world number one:

“Growing up I wasn’t the richest, but I had a rich family in spirit. Standing here with 19 championships is something I never thought would happen. I went on a court just with a ball and a racket and with a hope”

Yet another example of rags to riches. Serena Williams took birth in a middle-class family and had a really challenging childhood. She expresses her surprise and the sheer joy of being one of the greatest tennis players in the world as a winner of 19 championships (now 23). She wants to convey the message that if we follow our passion and go forward with hope in our hearts, we can achieve anything we want to.

“Think of all the girls who could become top athletes but quit sports because they’re afraid of having too many defined muscles and being made fun of or called unattractive”

Serena talks about the condition of women in sports nowadays. She sheds some light on the fact that many women have the potential to excel in sports, however, most of them choose not to follow their dreams because of society. They think that people will make fun of them by calling them unattractive because of them having too many defined muscles. Serena has set an example by being one of the greatest athletes alive while being very attractive.

“I decided I can’t pay a person to rewind time, so I may as well get over it”

Serena Williams wants to say that it is impossible to rewind time and anything bad that happens to you happens for a reason. So, the better and a reasonable thing to do is getting over the bad times and the bad things that happened in your life. Just like Serena, We must always focus on the future and work hard to achieve whatever we want to achieve in life.

“I think you have to love yourself before you fall in love”

Serena thinks this and we must all learn to believe it. Love is something that must happen with one’s own self first and then with someone else. The only way you can learn to love someone is if you learn to love yourself. In the same way, the only way someone will be able to love you is if you learn to love yourself first. So, love yourself and be what you want to be.

“I don’t like to lose — at anything… Yet I’ve grown most not from victories, but setbacks. If winning is God’s reward, then losing is how he teaches us”

Nobody likes to lose at anything and the only thing everyone ever wants to do is winning at everything. However, if we keep winning at everything and we keep succeding in everything, there’ll be no room for us to improve and learn from our experiences. The most a person grows is in his/her failures. Just like Serena, We must learn to take our failures positively because we can actually learn a lot from them.

“There’s one thing I’m really good at, and that’s hitting the ball over a net, in a box. I’m excellent”

Serena talks about her passion here and the way she explains it makes it crystal clear that she knows she’s good at it and this is what she wants to do for the rest of her life. We must always keep thriving to find our passion in life and we must chase and keep working on that passion until we taste success. People might leave you, but the only thing that will be with you till your last breath… is your passion.