Muhammad Ali Quotes and Pictures

 

 Young heavyweight boxer Cassius Clay points to a sign he wrote on a chalk board in his dressing room before his fight against Archie Moore in Los Angeles, in this Nov. 15, 1962, file photo predicting he'd knock Moore out in the fourth round, which he went on to do.  Harold P. Matosian, AP


Here are a list of some of his best quotes:

1. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't."

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

3. "I'm young; I'm handsome; I'm fast. I can't possibly be beat."

4. "Don’t count the days; make the days count."

5. “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it — then I can achieve it."

6. “It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am."

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

8. “If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.”

9. “Braggin' is when a person says something and can’t do it. I do what I say.”

10. "I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was."

11. "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."

12. "I'm so mean, I make medicine sick."

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

14. “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. 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 nothing.”

15. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”

16. "A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

17. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”

18. "I shook up the world. Me! Whee!"

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

20. “At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”

21. "A man who has no imagination has no wings."

22. "He’s (Sonny Liston) too ugly to be the world champ. The world champ should be pretty like me!"

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

24. “I’ve wrestled with alligators. I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning. And throw thunder in jail.”

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

26. “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”

27. "I'm the most recognized and loved man that ever lived cuz there weren't no satellites when Jesus and Moses were around, so people far away in the villages didn't know about them."

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

29. “I’m not the greatest. I’m the double greatest.”

30. “Live every day as if it were your last because someday you're going to be right.”

 

Muhammad Ali plays a few notes on the piano while visiting black American artists that perform in the Zaire 74 music festival in Kinshasa, Zaire, Sept. 22, 1974. At right is singer Etta James.  Horst Faas, AP

 

 

At a dinner honoring the six "Outstanding Chicagoans of Today," boxing champ Muhammad Ali takes a playful poke at sportscaster Howard Cosell, as Ann Landers advises them to break it up on Nov. 11, 1977.  AP

 

 

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, left, applauds as challenger Joe Frazier, right, makes some remarks about world champion Muhammad Ali, second from left, during their call on Marcos at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Sept. 18, 1975.  Jess Tan, AP

 

World heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, left, points at challenger Joe Frazier at a news conference in New York City, Thursday, July 17, 1975, to promote the "Thrilla in Manila." Standing between the fighters is boxing promoter Don King.  AP

 

Boxer Muhammad Ali on a sightseeing tour downtown Kinshasa, Zaire, September 17, 1974.  AP

 

Muhammad Ali, former world heavyweight boxing champion, toys with the finely combed hair of television sports commentator Howard Cosell before the start of the Olympic boxing trials, August 7, 1972, in West Point, N.Y.   

Joe Caneva, AP

Muhammad Ali, in a jovial mood as his March 8 bout with Joe Frazier draws near, is seen speaking on the phone and wearing a king's crown, March 6, 1971, in Miami Beach.  Joe Migon, AP

  

 

Johnny Carson, star of NBC-TV's "Tonight Show", watches world heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali hamming it up for a photographer in New York, Feb. 10, 1967.  AP

 In this Feb. 18, 1964, file photo, The Beatles -- from left, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison -- take a fake blow from Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, while visiting the heavyweight contender at his training camp in Miami Beach, Fla.  AP

 

 

 

In this Feb. 8, 1962, file photo, young heavyweight fighter Cassius Clay, who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali, is seen with his trainer, Angelo Dundee, at City Parks Gym in New York.  Dan Grossi, AP