--- title: Serena Williams: 8 Inspiring Quotes description: Serena Williams tied with Steffi Graff for the most Grand Slam wins in the Open era of tennis. canonical: https://time.com/4400847/serena-williams-quotes/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-11T18:38:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:54.552Z og:title: 8 Serena Williams Quotes That Deserve Their Own Trophies og:description: Get motivated—and love yourself og:url: https://time.com/4400847/serena-williams-quotes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a3f9a3e7a3ae06a/69889b6cfb4eac83d688e3e9/serena-williams-best-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4360 og:image:height: 2453 og:image:alt: Day Thirteen: The Championships - Wimbledon 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 8 Serena Williams Quotes That Deserve Their Own Trophies twitter:description: Get motivated—and love yourself twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a3f9a3e7a3ae06a/69889b6cfb4eac83d688e3e9/serena-williams-best-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 8 Serena Williams Quotes That Deserve Their Own Trophies > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) and [Wilder Davies](https://time.com/author/wilder-davies/) Jul 11, 2016 6:38 PM UTC  Wimbledon ladies singles Tennis Champion Serena Williams of the United States poses with the trophy at the Wimbledon Champions Dinner 2016 at the Guild Hall on July 10, 2016 in London, England. Wimbledon ladies singles Tennis Champion Serena Williams of the United States poses with the trophy at the Wimbledon Champions Dinner 2016 at the Guild Hall on July 10, 2016 in London, England. Bob Martin—AELTC/Pool/Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) and [Wilder Davies](https://time.com/author/wilder-davies/) Jul 11, 2016 6:38 PM UTC Serena Williams just crossed a major career milestone when she won Wimbledon for the seventh time. With her 22nd Grand Slam title, she’s now [tied with Steffi Graff](http://time.com/4399873/serena-williams-angelique-kerber-wimbledon-final/) for the most Grand Slam wins in the Open era of tennis (she needs two more titles to match Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.) How does Williams continue to be one of the best athletes of her time? It must have something to do with her mentality, which is on display in these 8 quotes that will get you jazzed to win, even if it’s just winning the day. **On self-confidence:** “It’s me, and I love me. I’ve learned to love me. I’ve been like this my whole life and I embrace me. I love how I look. I am a full woman and I’m strong, and I’m powerful, and I’m beautiful at the same time.” (via [ESPN](http://espn.go.com/espnw/athletes-life/the-buzz/article/13550586/got-grand-slams-win)) **On her own legacy:** “Am I the greatest? I don’t know. I’m the greatest that I can be.” (via [Glamour](http://www.glamour.com/story/serena-williams-the-worlds-greatest-athlete)) **On overcoming obstacles:** “I’ve had to learn to fight all my life – got to learn to keep smiling. If you smile things will work out.”(via [The Champion’s Comeback: How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Reignite by Jim Afremow](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiuuZun5uvNAhUFw4MKHdjGAS8QFggeMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FChampions-Comeback-Athletes-Recover-Re-Ignite%2Fdp%2F1623366798&usg=AFQjCNGJ5Hb%5FDkjXcYL6NBJiSzjtMSxa6w&sig2=ZQGXMf%5FwopiFKOucj92k5A)) **On competing:** “As a black tennis player, I looked different. I sounded different. I dressed differently. I served differently. But when I stepped onto the court, I could compete with anyone.” (via[ TIME](http://time.com/3694659/serena-williams-indian-wells/)) **On knowing when not to compete:** “The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.”(via [Glamour](http://www.glamour.com/story/best-advice-women-ever)) **On the most important part of being a winner:** “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.”(via [The National](http://www.thenational.ae/sport/north-american-sport/the-fall-and-rise-of-maturing-serena-williams)) **On body image:** “It’s important to touch on the body image issues. I’m interested in doing the best than I can and winning grand slams and being a champion and, you know, everyone has different goals … I’m not out there thinking, OK, I’m not going to go to gymnastics class today because I don’t want to look fit. I literally was born with this most amazing body, and to be historic, and to amazing, and to be badass. And if anyone doesn’t like it, then they don’t have to. Because at the end of the day, I like it. And I know a lot of other people who like it too.” (via [TIME](http://time.com/4032051/serena-williams-us-open-grand-slam/)) **On true beauty:** “You can be whatever size you are, and you can be beautiful both inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful and what’s not, and that’s not right.”(via [PEOPLE](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20300852,00.html)) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4400847/serena-williams-quotes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4400847/serena-williams-quotes/"},"headline":"8 Serena Williams Quotes That Deserve Their Own Trophies","datePublished":"2016-07-11T18:38:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:54.552Z","description":"Get motivated—and love yourself","url":"https://time.com/4400847/serena-williams-quotes/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a3f9a3e7a3ae06a/69889b6cfb4eac83d688e3e9/serena-williams-best-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Wilder Davies","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/wilder-davies/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a3f9a3e7a3ae06a/69889b6cfb4eac83d688e3e9/serena-williams-best-quotes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Day Thirteen: The Championships - Wimbledon 2016","caption":"Wimbledon ladies singles Tennis Champion Serena Williams of the United States poses with the trophy at the Wimbledon Champions Dinner 2016 at the Guild Hall on July 10, 2016 in London, England.","creditText":"Bob Martin—AELTC/Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4400847/serena-williams-quotes/","name":"8 Serena Williams Quotes That Deserve Their Own Trophies"}}]}] ```