MUHAMMAD ALI QUOTES II
American boxer (1942- )
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it -- then I can achieve it.
MUHAMMAD ALI
The Soul of a Butterfly
I need to be famous so I can talk about religion. I can talk about God. It's an expensive price that I have to pay to be the most famous man on earth and I do it with pleasure only for God. My fight is only and introduction to the real fight, the one for God. Fighting by itself doesn't interest me anymore. I want to help people, the black people and I need any kind of media to spread my thought: God, charity, peace.
MUHAMMAD ALI
"New Again: Muhammad Ali", Interview Magazine
Christians are my brothers, Hindus are my brothers, all of them are my brothers. We just think different and believe different.
MUHAMMAD ALI
O Magazine, Jun. 2001
There were so many fellows ranked over me I couldn't just whoop them all. I had to out-shadow them by talking.
MUHAMMAD ALI
interview with Michael Aisner, 1966
Hell no / I ain't going to go / Clean out my cell / And take my tail / To jail / Without bail / Because it's better there eating / Watching television fed / Than in Vietnam with your white folks dead.
MUHAMMAD ALI
poem about being drafted for Vietnam War, The Black Scholar, Jun. 1970
My soul has grown over the years, and some of my views have changed. As long as I am alive, I will continue to try to understand more because the work of the heart is never done.
MUHAMMAD ALI
The Soul of a Butterfly
For the black man to come out superior would be against America's teachings. I have been so great in boxing they had to create an image like Rocky, a white image on the screen, to counteract my image in the ring. America has to have its white images, no matter where it gets them. Jesus, Wonder Woman, Tarzan and Rocky.
MUHAMMAD ALI
interview with Roger Ebert, "Watching Rocky II With Muhammad Ali"
I wasn't just fighting one man, I was fighting a lot of men. I had to show them all that I was a man they couldn't intimidate. If I lost, I would have to listen to all the talk about how I was a bum, how I joined the wrong movement, and how I was misled. That's why it was so important for me to show them how wrong they were. I won in a third-round knockout.
MUHAMMAD ALI
about his fight with Jerry Quarry while waiting for the June 28, 1971 Supreme Court decision that would eventually overturn his conviction for violating the Selective Service Act, The Soul of a Butterfly
In a competition of love we'll all share in the victory, no matter who comes first.
MUHAMMAD ALI
The Soul of a Butterfly
It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the little pebble in your shoe.
MUHAMMAD ALI
attributed, The One-Day Contract: How to Add Value to Every Minute of Your Life
It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
MUHAMMAD ALI
BBC Sport, Jan. 17, 2007
I hated the sight on TV of big, clumsy, lumbering heavyweights plodding, stalking each other like two Frankenstein monsters, clinging, slugging toe to toe. I knew I could do it better ... circle, dance, shuffle, hit and move ... make an art out of it.
MUHAMMAD ALI
attributed, Book of African-American Quotations
What's really hurting me, the name Islam is involved, and Muslim is involved and causing trouble and starting hate and violence.... Islam is not a killer religion.... Islam means peace, I couldn't just sit home and watch people label Muslims as the reason for this problem.
MUHAMMAD ALI
"Muhammad Ali Defends His Religion", New York Daily News, Sep. 21, 2001
The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
MUHAMMAD ALI
Esquire, Feb. 2012
Women are the field that produces our nation. And if you can't protect your women, you can't protect your nation.
MUHAMMAD ALI
interview, Playboy, Nov. 1975
Service to others is the rent we pay for our room in Heaven.
MUHAMMAD ALI
The Soul of a Butterfly
I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round.
MUHAMMAD ALI
attributed, "Ali's Quotes", BBC Sport: Boxing, Jan. 17, 2007
I hated every minute of training, but I said don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.
MUHAMMAD ALI
attributed, A Season in Words: A Coach's Guide to Motivation from the Preseason to the Postseason
Allah is the Greatest. I'm just the greatest boxer.
MUHAMMAD ALI
attributed, Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure
A long time ago, I took a walk down a street in Harlem in New York City. I came upon a man who asked me for a dollar. He had asked a few other people before me, but they only passed him by without glancing his way. I stopped and handed the man some money. As I began to turn away, he reached out and shook my hand. He looked me in the eyes and said, "I will bless you." Now, I'm not saying that was God Himself. But how do we know that it wasn't someone working for him, walking around in disguise, just to see what we would do?
MUHAMMAD ALI
The Soul of a Butterfly