Muhammad Ali Quotes

I shook up the world

It’s not bragging if you can back it up

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

I’m so pretty

Don’t count the days, make the days count

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

No one starts out on top. You have to work your way up

Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything

My principles are more important than the money or my title

A man who has no imagination has no wings

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you

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 never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right

It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see

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 should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I’ll ever get licked

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth

It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am

I don't have to be what you want me to be, I'm free to be who I want

Wars come and go, but my soldiers stay eternal

I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was

I’m so mean I make medicine sick.

I wish people would recognize the difference between humility and modesty. I am anything but modest, but I am humble

I am grateful for all my victories, but I am especially grateful for my losses, because they only made me work harder

I’m not allowed to work in America, and I’m not allowed to leave America. So I’m just about broke.

Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong

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

Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you're going to be right

You lose nothing when fighting for a cause... In my mind, the losers are those who don’t have a cause they care about

The will must be stronger than the skill

I’m not the greatest, I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ‘em out, I pick the round

Look at me. Ain’t I pretty?

Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision

There are no pleasures in a fight, but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win

Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong

Wars of nations are fought to change maps, but wars of poverty are fought to map change.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life

If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough

Old age is just a record of one’s whole life

God gave me this illness to remind me that I'm not number one, He is

I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth

I'm the onliest boxer in history people ask questions like a senator

Superman don’t need no seat belt

It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself

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

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

My toughest fight was with my first wife

It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up

The real greatness is being kind to people

The man who has no imagination has no wings.

Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.

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

I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world

I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own

What keeps me going is goals

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you

My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world

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

Me? Whee!

Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer

We can’t be brave without fear

I’m no leader; I’m a little humble follower

Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams—they all have different names, but they all contain water. So do religions have different names, and yet they all contain truth

When you can whip any man in the world, you never know peace

Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you're going to be right

Bragging is when a person says something and can’t do it. I do what I say

I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.

I am so mean, I make medicine sick

If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it

I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize

I wish people would recognize the difference between humility and modesty. I am anything but modest, but I am humble.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth

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

The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth

I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail

I’m young; I’m handsome; I’m fast. I can’t possibly be beat

Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams—they all have different names, but they all contain water. So do religions have different names, and yet they all contain truth

Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.

I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize

Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change

The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life