Thursday, September 21, 2006

Muhammad Ali Quotes

Muhammad Ali, the boxer's best quotations, quips, wits. Collected by me. I've met and interviewed him in 1990.

I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

Muhammad Ali, American boxing legend

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

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


If the culprits are Muslim, they have twisted the teachings of Islam. Whoever performed, or is behind, the terrorist attacks in the United States of America does not represent Islam. God is not behind assassins. Anyone involved in this must pay for their evil.

The American flag is a symbol of freedom and hope for citizens around the globe. It is a daily reminder of the values and liberties promised in our Constitution.

My mother once told me that my confidence in myself made her believe in me. I thought that was funny, because it was her confidence in me that strengthened my belief in myself. I didn't realize it then, but from the very beginning, my parents were helping me build the foundation for my life.

Muhammad Ali, quotation from his latest book Soul of a Butterfly.

I am the greatest. It's not bragging if you can back it up.

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

It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. The dignity of human beings and their direct connection with God, not labels and differences, was the central focus of his life.

Muhammad Ali, American boxing legend, on the death of Pope John Paul II

It is time to pass on the values, beliefs and principles that made me a champ to the next generation of champions. I believe that better nutrition and respect for the mind and body will give everybody today the opportunity to rise above and be the best they can be.

I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong" and "no Vietcong ever called me nigger.

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.

Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that... the body's not made to be punched right here. Ali on women in boxing, pointing to his chest

Athlete of the Century
, Sports Illustrated

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