Muhammad Ali
I just won the gold medal and I couldn't eat downtown. I said, 'Something's wrong.' And from then on, I've been a Muslim.Collection: Gold
Stumbling is the fruit of haste.Collection: Haste
Maybe I was great in the ring, but outside of boxing, I'm just a brother like other people. I want to live a good life, serve God, help everybody I can. And one more thing. I'm still gonna find out who stole my bike when I was 12 years old in Louisville and I'm gonna whup him. That was a good bike.Collection: Positive
Frazier's got two chances. Slim, and none. And Slim just left townCollection: Two
I predict that this will be the greatest book ever and it will sell more than any other book in historyCollection: Book
I can drown a drink of water. I can kill a dead tree. Don't mess with Muhammad Ali.Collection: Boxing
We can't be brave without fear.Collection: Brave
Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you're going to be right.Collection: Life
To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.Collection: Motivational
No one starts out on top. You have to work your way up.Collection: Way
I don't count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. That is when I start counting, because then it really counts. That's what makes you a champion.Collection: Life
I came back to Louisville after the Olympics with my shiny gold medal. Went into a luncheonette where black folks couldn't eat. Thought I'd put them on the spot. I sat down and asked for a meal. The Olympic champion wearing his gold medal. They said, "We don't serve niggers here." I said, "That's okay, I don't eat 'em." But they put me out in the street. So I went down to the river, the Ohio River, and threw my gold medal in it.Collection: Rivers
When a man says I cannot, he has made a suggestion to himself. He has weakened his power of accomplishing that which otherwise would have been accomplished.Collection: Positive
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.Collection: Real
Outrun the people who quit when they feel discomfort, outrun the people who stop because of despair, outrun the people who are delayed because of prejudice, outrun the people who surrender to failure, and outrun the opponent who loses sight of the goal. Because if you want to win, the will can never retire, the race can never stop, and faith can never weaken.Collection: Winning
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.Collection: Dog
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.Collection: Cocky
Champions come and go, but to be legendary you got to have heart, more heart than the next man, more than anyone in the world.Collection: Heart
I'm a Muslim. I've been a Muslim for 20 years. . . . You know me. I'm a boxer. I've been called the greatest. People recognize me for being a boxer and a man of truth. I wouldn't be here representing Islam if it were terrorist. . . . I think all people should know the truth, come to recognize the truth. Islam is peace.Collection: Men
What you're thinking is what you're becoming.Collection: Greatness
A black, a Puerto Rican and a Mexican are in a car. Who's driving? The police.Collection: Car
The only limitations one has, are the ones they place on themselvesCollection: Work Out
There's nothing wrong with getting knocked down, as long as you get right back up.Collection: Long
The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued mostCollection: Greatest Victory
How many push ups do you do? I don't know. I only starts counting when it starts hurtingCollection: Motivational
This life is not real. I conquered the world and it did not bring me satisfaction.Collection: Life
I try to learn as much as I can because I know nothing compared to what I need to know.Collection: Justice
The more we help others, the more we help ourselvesCollection: Helping Others
The greater our level of understanding, the harder the tests become.Collection: Understanding
Champions have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.Collection: Skills
The man of least capacity is the one who shows himself incapable of self-correction.Collection: Men
We have one life / It soon will be past / What we do for God / Is all that will last.Collection: Sports
It's hard to beat a guy when he's got his mind made up that he's going to win.Collection: Winning
The one without dreams is the one without wings.Collection: Dream
Just remember that you don't have to be what they want you to be.Collection: Want
Every day is different, and some days are better than others, but no matter how challenging the day, I get up and live it.Collection: Challenges
What counts in the ring is what you can do after you're exhausted. The same is true of life.Collection: Exhausted
If we continue to think and live as if we belong only to different cultures and different religions, with separate missions and goals, we will always be in self-defeating competition with each other. Once we realize we are all members of humanity, we will want to compete in the spirit of love.Collection: Thinking
Success is not achieved by winning all the time. Real success comes when we rise after we fall.Collection: Real
I am grateful for all my victories, but I am especially grateful for my losses, because they only made me work harder.Collection: Grateful
There are billions of people in the world, and every one of them is special. No one else in the world is like you.Collection: People
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 nothingCollection: Athlete
Whatever the challenge was, however unattainable the goal may have seemed, I never let anyone talk me out of believing in myself.Collection: Believe
Once the Choice is Made, Do Not Look Back, Do Not Second-Guess Your DecisionsCollection: Inspirational
God gave me this illness to remind me that I'm not Number One; He is.Collection: Numbers
I don't smoke but I keep a match box in my pocket, when my heart slips towards sin, I burn the matchstick and heat my palm with it, then say to myself, "Ali you can't even bear this heat, how would you bear the unbearable heat of hellfire?"Collection: Islamic
Santa Claus was white and everything bad was black. The little ugly duckling was the black duck, and the black cat was the bad luck. And if I threaten you, I'm going to blackmail you.I said, 'Momma, why don't they call it 'whitemail'? They lie too.'Collection: Lying
You can do what you want. But it's nature to be with your own. I want to be with my own.Collection: Want