Muhammad Ali Quotes

Muhammad Ali Quotes

1. “Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” – Muhammad Ali

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

3. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

4. “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, hospitalized a brick; I’m so mean I make medicine sick.” – Muhammad Ali

5. “Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.” – Muhammad Ali

6. “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” – Muhammad Ali

7. “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.” Muhammad Ali

8. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Muhammad Ali

9. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali

10. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

11. “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” – Muhammad Ali

12. “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” – Muhammad Ali

13. “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” – Muhammad Ali

14. “If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you – until you get your revenge.” – Muhammad Ali

15. “If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.” – Muhammad Ali

16. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

17. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

18. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

19. “I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.” – Muhammad Ali

20. “No one knows what to say in the loser’s locker room.” – Muhammad Ali


21. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

22. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

23. “My principles are more important than the money or my title.” – Muhammad Ali

24. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

25. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

26. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

27. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

28. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali

29. “I don’t have to be what you want me to be.” – Muhammad Ali

30. “I’ve seen George Foreman shadow boxing, and the shadow won.” – Muhammad Ali

31. “I said I was ‘The Greatest,’ I never said I was the smartest!” – Muhammad Ali

32. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

33. “My only fault is that I don’t realize how great I really am.” – Muhammad Ali

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.” – Muhammad Ali

35. “It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.” – Muhammad Ali

36. “My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.” – Muhammad Ali

37. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

38. “I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round.” – Muhammad Ali

39. “When you can whip any man in the world, you never know peace.” – Muhammad Ali

40. “I’m no leader; I’m a little humble follower.” – Muhammad Ali



Muhammad Ali quotes


41. “Ali’s got a left, Ali’s got a right – when he knocks you down, you’ll sleep for the night; and when you lie on the floor and the ref counts to ten, hope and pray that you never meet me again.” – Muhammad Ali

42. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

43. “The man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali

44. “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” – Muhammad Ali

45. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

46. “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.” – Muhammad Ali

47. “Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.” – Muhammad Ali

48. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

49. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

50. “Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” – Muhammad Ali

51. “It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.” – Muhammad Ali

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

53. “Old age is just a record of one’s whole life.” – Muhammad Ali

54. “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.” – Muhammad Ali

55. “There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.” – Muhammad Ali

56. “You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned? Wait till I whup George Foreman’s behind.” – Muhammad Ali

57. “I shook up the world, I shook up the world.” – Muhammad Ali

58. “I wanted to use my fame and this face that everyone knows so well to help uplift and inspire people around the world.” – Muhammad Ali

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

60. “What you are thinking about, you are becoming.” – Muhammad Ali

61. “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only count when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.” – Muhammad Ali

62. “I’m the best. I just haven’t played yet.”– Muhammad Ali

63. “I’m gonna show you how great I am.” – Muhammad Ali

64. “Friendship is not something you learn in school but if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship you really haven’t learned anything. “ – Muhammad Alia