45 Of Muhammad Ali’s Most Notable Quotes
By: Sean Crose
With the world reeling from the news of Muhammad Ali’s death, Boxing Insider has decided to pay homage to “The Greatest” by offering the reader a collection of the man’s notable quotes. Indeed, Ali was almost as great a talker as he was a fighter. Enjoy
1. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see. Now you see me, now you don’t. George thinks he will, but I know he won’t.”
2. “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”
3. “If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.”
4. “I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”
5. “At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”
6. “He’s too ugly to be the world champ. The world champ should be pretty like me!”
7. “Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”
8. “Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.”
9. “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”
10. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
11. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
12. “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.”
13. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”
14. “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.”
15. “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
16. “I’m not the greatest, I’m the double greatest.”
17. “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
18. “I’ve wrestled with alligators. I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning. And throw thunder in jail.”
19. “I shook up the world. Me! Whee!”
20. “I should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.”
21. “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
22. “A man who has no imagination has no wings.”
23. “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
24. “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.”
25. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”
26. “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.”
27. “I’m young; I’m handsome; I’m fast. I can’t possibly be beat.”
28. “Braggin’ is when a person says something and can’t do it. I do what I say.”
29. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
30. “Don’t count the days; make the days count.”
31. “I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I’m in a world of my own.”
32. “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.”
33. “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.”
34. “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.”
35. “Never put your money against Cassius Clay, for you will never have a lucky day.”
36. “I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.”
37. “Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.”
38. “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.”
39. “Don’t feel sorry for me.”
40. “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.”
41. “When you can whip any man in the world, you never know peace.”
42. “Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the U.S. Bureau of Wild Life.”
43. “My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.”
44. “I’m no leader; I’m a little humble follower.”
45. “I don’t count the sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count. That’s what makes you a champion.”