Muhammad Ali was a 56-time heavyweight boxing champion. He is well-known for his bravery in publicly opposing the Vietnam War. He was a philanthropist, boxer, and social crusader who was widely regarded as one of the finest athletes of the twentieth century. In 1960, he won an Olympic gold medal, and in 1964, he became the world heavyweight boxing champion.
He has accomplished a great deal since his birth in January 1942. Yes, he works hard and reclaims the heavyweight title twice in the 1970s. His boldness was the driving force behind his accomplishment. He is never frightened of a fight, both inside and outside of the ring. He realized his hidden gift when he was only 12 years old. When his motorcycle was taken, he was almost ready to beat the culprit.
- “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
- “I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round.”
- “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”
- “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
- “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”
- “There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.”
- “If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”
- “Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.”
- “It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.”
- “Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.”
- “I never thought of losing, but now that it’ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.”
- “My only fault is that I don’t realize how great I really am.”
- “Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”
- “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
- “Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.”
- “Superman don’t need no seat belt.”
- “I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace.”
- “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”
- “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
- “There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people.”
- “It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.”
- “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”
- “I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.”
- “What keeps me going is goals.”
- “Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the U.S. Bureau of Wild Life.”
- “My toughest fight was with my first wife.”
- “I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.”
- “TO BE ABLE TO GIVE AWAY RICHES IS MANDATORY IF YOU WISH TO POSSESS THEM. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU WILL BE TRULY RICH.”
- “Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do – they all contain truths.”
- “The man who has no imagination has no wings.”
- “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
- “My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.”
- “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”
- “I’m the most recognized and loved man that ever lived cuz there weren’t no satellites when Jesus and Moses were around, so people far away in the villages didn’t know about them.”
- “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”
- “Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”
- “I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.”
- “I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.”
- “I had to prove you could be a new kind of black man. I had to show the world.”
- “YOU THINK THE WORLD WAS SHOCKED WHEN NIXON RESIGNED? WAIT TILL I WHUP GEORGE FOREMAN‘S BEHIND.”
- “I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believed in myself, and I believe in the goodness of others.”
- “I would say things like ‘I am the greatest! I’m pretty! If you talk jive, you’ll drop in five! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I’m pretty!’ When white people heard me talking like this, some said, ‘That black man talks too much. He’s bragging.”
- “The word ‘Islam’ means ‘peace.’ The word ‘Muslim’ means ‘one who surrenders to God.’ But the press makes us seem like haters.”
- “Terrorists are not following Islam. Killing people and blowing up people and dropping bombs in places and all this is not the way to spread the word of Islam. So people realize now that all Muslims are not terrorists.”
- “When I won the Golden Gloves in 1960, that made me realize I had a chance. And when I won at the Olympics, that sealed it: I was the champ.”
- “God tries you in certain, certain ways. Some people are rich, and they believe in God. They lose the money, things get hard, they get weak and quit going to church. Quit serving God like they did.”
- “I’m just hoping that people understand that Islam is peace and not violence.”
- “If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you – until you get your revenge.”
- “I have been so great in boxing they had to create an image like Rocky, a white image on the screen, to counteract my image in the ring. America has to have its white images, no matter where it gets them. Jesus, Wonder Woman, Tarzan and Rocky.”
- “Anywhere I go, there is always an incredible crowd that follows me. In Rome, as I land at the airport, even the men kiss me. I love Rome.”
- “Cassius Clay is a name that white people gave to my slave master. Now that I am free, that I don’t belong anymore to anyone, that I’m not a slave anymore, I gave back their white name, and I chose a beautiful African one.”
- “ALL BLACK AMERICANS HAVE SLAVE NAMES. THEY HAVE WHITE NAMES; NAMES THAT THE SLAVE MASTER HAS GIVEN TO THEM.”
- “I’m the greatest thing that ever lived! I’m the king of the world! I’m a bad man. I’m the prettiest thing that ever lived.”
- All of us are so mixed. My great-grandfather was white.”
- “Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can’t talk. The man can’t fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he’s gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.”
- “I’ve seen George Foreman shadow boxing, and the shadow won.”
- “The fact is, I was never too bright in school. I ain’t ashamed of it, though. I mean, how much do school principals make a month?”
- “I said I was ‘The Greatest,’ I never said I was the smartest!”
- “I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I’ll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I’m gonna tell ya, that’s one helluva man, and God bless him.”
- “Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.”
- “Never put your money against Cassius Clay, for you will never have a lucky day.”
- “I calculate that I took 20,000 punches, but I earned millions and kept a lot of it. I may talk slow, but my mind is OK.”
- “Joe Frazier got hit more than me – and he doesn’t have Parkinson’s.”
- “I had a good time boxing. I enjoyed it – and I may come back.”
- “I give thanks to God and to all the people in the U.K. who have supported me over the years.”
- “Don’t feel sorry for me.”
- “I got no quarrel with them Vietcong.”
- Muhammad Ali Vs. Sonny Liston“If I said I would knock out Sonny Liston in 1 minute and 49 seconds of the first round, that would hurt the gate.”
- “I used to tease Joe Louis by reminding him that I was the greatest of all time. But Joe Louis was the greatest heavyweight fighter ever.”
- “I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I “haven’t lived in vain.”
- “Life is so, so short. Bible says it’s like a vapor.”
- “It’s in my blood to be around people while I was training.”
- “THE WHITE MAN IS DESTROYING THE WORLD.”
- “My principles are more important than the money or my title.”
- “No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters.”
- “We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don’t want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don’t want to live with the white man; that’s all.”
- “White people just don’t want their slaves to be free. That’s the whole thing.”
- “The Nation of Islam’s main focus was teaching black pride and self-awareness. Why should we keep trying to force ourselves into white restaurants and schools when white people didn’t want us? Why not clean up our own neighborhoods and schools instead of trying to move out of them and into white people’s neighborhoods?”
- “I didn’t want to submit to the army and then, on the day of judgment, have God say to me, ‘Why did you do that?’ This life is a trial, and you realize that what you do is going to be written down for Judgment Day.”
- “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.”
