Comical one-liners and Boxing braggadocio!; Muhammad Ali was a loudmouth threat to the ‘boxing establishment’. Muhammad Ali could make heavyweight rivals Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston and George Foreman feel like unwitting participants at their own roast. He was king of the world and a clown prince, who fought for both championships and his rights as a conscientious objector.
Muhammad Ali mouth roared, never bored, with wit as sharp as a sword, who went full bore into each fight with a silver tongue and heavyweight gold.
No one could say it better than Ali.
Below are some of his quotes:
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. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
3. “I’m young; I’m handsome; I’m fast. I can’t possibly be beat.”
4. “Don’t count the days; make the days count.”
5. “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.”
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.” #MuhammadAlipic.twitter.com/9R2nQXH193
— Muhammad Ali (@MuhammadAli) April 21, 2016
6. “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”
7. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”
8. “If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.”
9. “Braggin’ is when a person says something and can’t do it. I do what I say.”
10. “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”
11. “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.”
12. “I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”
13. “I should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.”
14. “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.”
15. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
16. “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
17. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”
18. “I shook up the world. Me! Whee!”
19. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
20. “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.”
21. “A man who has no imagination has no wings.”
22. “He’s (Sonny Liston) too ugly to be the world champ. The world champ should be pretty like me!”
23. “I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I’m in a world of my own.”
24. “I’ve wrestled with alligators. I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning. And throw thunder in jail.”
25. “Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”
“How tall are you? So I can know in advance how far to step back when you fall down!” #MuhammadAlipic.twitter.com/8rrmqL1fUP
— Muhammad Ali (@MuhammadAli) April 6, 2016
26. “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
27. “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.”
28. “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
29. “I’m not the greatest, I’m the double greatest.”
30. “Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.”
31. “When will they ever have another fighter who writes poems, predicts rounds, beats everybody, makes people laugh, makes people cry, and is as tall and extra pretty as me? In the history of the world and from the beginning of time, there’s never been another fighter like me. Eat your words! Eat your words! I am the greatest.”
32. “Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it, and I didn’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name – it means beloved of God – and I insist people use it when speaking to me and of me.’”
33.”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.”
34. “I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I’m in a world of my own.”
36. “If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologise.”
37.”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.”
38.”He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
39. “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.”
40.”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.”
41.”I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.”
42.”It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
43.”I’m No 1. After me, it don’t matter.”
43.Muhammad Ali, considered to be the greatest heavyweight boxer, died late Friday night in a Phoenix-area hospital at 74 years old.
