Muhammad Ali

“Truly great people in history never wanted to be great for themselves. All they wanted was the chance to do good for others and be close to God.”

“Impossible is nothing.”

“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.”

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

“إذا كانوا قد استطاعوا أن يصنعوا البنسلين من الخبز المتعفن، فإنهم يستطيعون بالتأكيد صنع شئ مفيد منك”

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

“Go to College, Stay in school, If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”

“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.”

“I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.”

“Wisdom is knowing when you can't be wise.”

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.”

“I’ve wrestled with alligators,I’ve tussled with a whale.I done handcuffed lightningAnd throw thunder in jail.You know I’m bad.just last week, I murdered a rock,Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”

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

“I'm the greatest, I'm a bad man, and I'm pretty!”

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

“I Ain't Got No Quarrel With The VietCong...No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger.”

“Often it isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the little pebble in your shoe.”

“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 don't let yourself believe it will happen to you.”

“What keeps me going is goals.”

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

“Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.”

“Superman don't need no seat belt.”

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

“I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.”

“I'm a fighter. I believe in the eye-for-an-eye business. I'm no cheek turner. I got no respect for a man who won't hit back. You kill my dog, you better hide your cat.”

“Allah is the Greatest. I'm just the greatest boxer”

“This is the legend of Cassius Clay, The most beautiful fighter in the world today.He talks a great deal, and brags indeed-y, of a muscular punch that's incredibly speed-y.The fistic world was dull and weary,But with a champ like Liston, things had to be dreary.Then someone with color and someone with dash, Brought fight fans are runnin' with Cash.This brash young boxer is something to see And the heavyweight championship is his des-tin-y.This kid fights great; he’s got speed and endurance,But if you sign to fight him, increase your insurance.This kid's got a left; this kid's got a right,If he hit you once, you're asleep for the night.And as you lie on the floor while the ref counts ten,You’ll pray that you won’t have to fight me again.For I am the man this poem’s about,The next champ of the world, there isn’t a doubt.This I predict and I know the score,I’ll be champ of the world in ’64.When I say three, they’ll go in the third,10 months agoSo don’t bet against me, I’m a man of my word.He is the greatest! Yes!I am the man this poem’s about,I’ll be champ of the world, there isn’t a doubt.Here I predict Mr. Liston’s dismemberment,I’ll hit him so hard; he’ll wonder where October and November went.When I say two, there’s never a third,Standin against me is completely absurd.When Cassius says a mouse can outrun a horse,Don’t ask how; put your money where your mouse is!I AM THE GREATEST!”

“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. ”

“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.”

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

“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”

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

“What you're thinking is what you're becoming.”

“It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.”

“Champions aren't 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.”

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

“You lose nothing when fighting for a cause ... In my mind the losers are those who don't have a cause they care about.”

“Jokes? There are no jokes. The truth is the funniest joke of all.”

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

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

“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it - then I can achieve it.”

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

“The Service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”

“Put yourself out on a limb, sucka, like me!”

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

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

“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

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

“If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.”

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