Muhammad “The Greatest” Ali Quotes!

By Boxing News - 02/11/2022 - Comments

By Ken Hissner: The one and only former world heavyweight champion in and out of the ring was well known for his quotes. The following are many of Ali’s quotes for someone who hardly got through high school. It’s amazing! The most famous is “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee!”

It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

I know where I am 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. A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 wasted 30 years of his life.
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. It isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.

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 make 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.

I am the greatest! I said that even before I knew I was. I figured if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest. If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.

Only a man who knows what it is like to be can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win the match is even.

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Champions are not made in gyms. Champions are made from what 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.
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it –then I can achieve it. Don’t count the days; make the days count. It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

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

What you are thinking is what you are becoming. What keeps me going is goals. Live every day as if it were your last because some day you’re going to be right.

Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer. It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people 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. 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 life.

Only a man who knows what it is 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.

I never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing to do it to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.

I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world. You’re my oppose when I want freedom; You’re my oppose when I want justice; You’re my oppose when I want equality; You won’t even stand up for me in America for my religious beliefs, and you want me to go somewhere and fight, but you won’t even stand up for me here at home!

If you even dream of beating me, you better wake up and apologize. I don’t get hit. I’m the fastest thing on two feet, man. Friendship is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.

I don’t care how small the ring is; I’ll fight that chump in a telephone booth. To be able to give away riches is mandatory if you wish to possess them. This is the only way that you will be really, truly rich.

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Look at me, look at my nose, perfect shape; lips, face. Now I’m not boasting, but it’s hard to be humble when you are as pretty as I am.
A man who has no imagination has no wings. Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.

What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming. I said I was the ‘Greatest’; I never said I was the smartest!” Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise.

I want to use my fame and this face that everyone knows so well to uplift and inspire people around the world! When it comes to love, compassion, and other feelings of the heart, I am rich!

It’s in my blood to be around people while I was training. 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.

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 the lights.

We spend more time learning how to make a living than we do learning to make a life. All through my life, I have been tested. My will has been tested; my courage has been tested; my strength has been tested. Now my patience and endurance are being tested.

I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to the waiter. Because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position. 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.

My wealth is in my knowledge of self, love, and spirituality. 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.

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 am crowing. Life is so, so short. Bible says it’s like a vapor.

When you want to talk about who made me, you talk to me. Who made me is ME! The only thing that matters is submitting to the will of God! When we devote all our actions to a spiritual goal, everything that we do becomes a prayer.

The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued most. Enjoy your children, even when they don’t act the way you want them to.

Even the greatest was once a beginner. Don’t be afraid to take that first step. No one starts out on top. You have to work your way up.
Don’t count the days; make the days count! I should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.

Muhammad Ali has made hundreds of quotes, and if you have a favorite or one that is not here, please add it with your comment.