MUHAMMAD ALI QUOTES II

American boxer (1942- )

Muhammad Ali quote

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

MUHAMMAD ALI

The Soul of a Butterfly

Tags: belief


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

Tags: fame


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

Tags: religion


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


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

Tags: soul, change


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

Tags: war


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

Tags: women


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

Tags: competition, love


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


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"

Tags: boxing


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


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

MUHAMMAD ALI

BBC Sport, Jan. 17, 2007

Tags: boxing


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

Tags: boxing


Allah is the Greatest. I'm just the greatest boxer.

MUHAMMAD ALI

attributed, Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure

Tags: God, boxing


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

Tags: quitting


The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

MUHAMMAD ALI

Esquire, Feb. 2012

Tags: dreams


Service to others is the rent we pay for our room in Heaven.

MUHAMMAD ALI

The Soul of a Butterfly

Tags: Heaven


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

Tags: boxing


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

Tags: God, angels