Muhammad Ali

Whoever listens to slander is himself a slanderer.

It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

All black Americans have slave names. They have white names; names that the slave master has given to them.

It’s hard to be humble when you are as great as I am.

A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

The word 'Islam' means 'peace.' The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the press makes us seem like haters.

Superman don't need no seat belt.

If you even dream of beating me, you'd better wake up and apologize

The white man is destroying the world.

I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round.

My trainer don't tell me nothing between rounds. I don't allow him to. I fight the fight. All I want to know is did I win the round. It's too late for advice.

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 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.

My principles are more important than the money or my title.

Its hard to be humble when you are as great as I am.

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.

Dont count the days make the days count.

I figure I'll be champ for about ten years and then I'll let my brother take over - like the Kennedys down in Washington.

No boxer in the history of boxing has had Parkinsons. Theres no injury in my brain that suggests that the illness came from boxing.

I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.

I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing, and the shadow won.

It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.

Every day is different and some days are better than others but no matter how challenging the day I get up and live it.

The will must be stronger than the skill.

It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

Its the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction things begin to happen.

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.

You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned? Wait till I whup George Foreman's behind.

It will be a killer, and a chiller, and a thriller, when I get the gorilla in Manila.

I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace.

I shook up the world, I shook up the world.

If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you - until you get your revenge.

I hated every minute of training but I said dont quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams - they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do - they all contain truths.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.

I should be a postage stamp, because that's the only way I'll ever get licked. I'm beautiful. I'm fast. I'm so mean I make medicine sick. I can't possibly be beat.

The man who views the world at 50 the same he did at 20 has wasted thirty years of his life.

I never thought about losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right.

To make America the greatest is my goal, so I beat the Russian and I beat the Pole. And for the U.S.A. won the medal of gold. The Greeks said, 'You're better than the Cassius of old.'

Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.

Joe Frazier got hit more than me - and he doesn't have Parkinson's.

Champions arent made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire a dream a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.

Don't count the days, make the days count.

Be obedient to your superior, and your inferior will obey you.

I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.

I don't have to be what you want me to be.

You can't keep your mind on fighting when you're thinking about a woman. You can't keep your concentration. You feel like sleeping all the time.

There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.

I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free.

Rest but never quit. Even the sun has a sinking spell each evening. But it always rises the next morning. At sunrise, every soul is born again.

I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.

Life is a gamble. You can get hurt but people die in plane crashes lose their arms and legs in car accidents people die every day. Same with fighters some die some get hurt some go on. You just dont let yourself believe it will happen to you.

Ever since I first came here in 1963 to fight Henry Cooper, I have loved the people of England.

I'm more at home with my log cabins than I am in my house in Cherry Hill.

Children make you want to start life over.

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.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ˜Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

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.

I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.

I don't have to be what nobody else wants me to be and I am not afraid to be what I want to be.

No one knows what to say in the loser's locker room.

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 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 toughest fight was with my first wife.

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.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

Never put your money against Cassius Clay, for you will never have a lucky day.

I'm no leader; I'm a little humble follower.

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.

The worst man is the one who sees himself as the best.

It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.

Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the U.S. Bureau of Wild Life.

My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.

When you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble.

My lectures, based on Islamic teachings, were on various subjects. Some of the titles were, 'The Intoxication of Life,' 'The Purpose of Life,' 'The Real Cause of Man's Distress,' 'The Journey to the Goal in Life,' and, one of my favorites, 'The Heart of Man.' They contained important insights that spoke to something deep inside me.

I wanted to use my fame and this face that everyone knows so well to help uplift and inspire people around the world.

Inside of a ring or out, ain't nothing wrong with going down. It's staying down that's wrong.

I'm just hoping that people understand that Islam is peace and not violence.

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.'

A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing.

Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.

If you ever dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize.

It's not bragging if you can back it up.

People don't realize what they had till it's gone. Like President Kennedy, there was no one like him, the Beatles, and my man Elvis Presley. I was the Elvis of boxing.

I never thought of losing but now that it s happened the only thing is to do it right. Thats my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.

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?

To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. Its not something you learn in school. But if you havent learned the meaning of friendship you really havent learned anything.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

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.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Don't feel sorry for me.

The only limitations one has, are the ones they place on themselves.

Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer.

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

Float like a butterfly sting like a bee his hands cant hit what his eyes cant see.