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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. - After losing his
first of his fights with Ken Norton.
Service to others is the
rent you pay for your room here on earth.
I am an astronaut of
boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my
own.
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.
When you're as great as I
am, it's hard to be humble.
It's just a job. Grass
grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
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.
You can't hit what you
can't see; I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!
After being rejected by
the Vietnam draft the first time, because he failed the 'intelligence'
portion, Casius said, "I never said I was the smartest, I said I
was the greatest.
I won a gold medal
representing the USA at the olympic games in 1960, but when I came home
I still got treated like a nigger. There were restaurants I couldn't get
served in. Some people kept calling me 'boy'.
Sonny Liston is too ugly
to be world heavyweight champion!
On Henry Cooper, If he
talks some jive, I'll knock him out in round five.
I'm soooooooooooooooooo
pretty!!!
I'm gonna float like a
butterfly, sting like a bee, George can't hit what his eyes can't see,
now you see me, now you don't, he thinks he will but I know he won't.
A man
who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted
thirty years of his life.
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.
Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as
you think you are.
Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men
beat each other up.
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 last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster,
they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger
than the skill.
Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to
the US Bureau of Wild Life.
Friendship... is not something you learn in school.
But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't
learned anything.
Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it
doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will
accomplish nothing in life.
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.
I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey
were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.
I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I
was.
I am the greatest. Not only do I knock em out, I pick
the round!
I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in
Allah and peace.
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.
I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince
the world that I really was the greatest.
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 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.
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.
I run on the road, long before I dance under the
lights.
I wish people would love everybody else the way they
love me. It would be a better world.
I'll be floating like a butterfly and stinging like a
bee.
I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his
hat on.
I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not
only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round.
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.
I'm the best. I just haven't played yet.
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.
If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they
can sure make something out of you.
If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up
and apologize.
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you
out; it's the pebble in your shoe.
It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am.
It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound
the sand. I beat people up.
It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of
meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.
It's not bragging if you can back it up.
It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to
belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to
happen.
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.
Love is a net that catches hearts like a fish.
My toughest fight was with my first wife.
My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the
funniest joke in the world.
No one knows what to say in the loser's locker room.
Old age is just a record of one's whole life.
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.
Only the nose knows, Where the nose goes, When the
door close.
People don't realize what they had till it's gone.
Like President Kennedy - nobody like him. Like The Beatles, there will
never be anything like them. Like my man, Elvis Presley - I was the
Elvis of boxing.
Prejudice comes from being in the dark; sunlight
disinfects it.
Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams - they all have
different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do - they
all contain truths.
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room
here on earth.
Silence is golden when you can't think of a good
answer.
Superman don't need no seat belt.
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.
The man who has no imagination has no wings.
The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did
at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
There are more pleasant things to do than beat up
people.
There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my
fights have been a pleasure to win.
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.
Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars
of poverty are fought to map change.
We have one life; it soon will be past; what we do
for God is all that will last.
What keeps me going is goals.
When you are as great as I am it is hard to be
humble.
When you can whip any man in the world, you never
know peace.