I didn't want to submit to the army and then, on the day of judgment, have God say to me, 'Why did you do that?' This life is a trial, and you realize that what you do is going to be written down for Judgment Day.
— Muhammad Ali
My lectures, based on Islamic teachings, were on various subjects. Some of the titles were, 'The Intoxication of Life,' 'The Purpose of Life,' 'The Real Cause of Man's Distress,' 'The Journey to the Goal in Life,' and, one of my favorites, 'The Heart of Man.' They contained important insights that spoke to something deep inside me.
No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters.
I don't have to be what you want me to be.
I'm more at home with my log cabins than I am in my house in Cherry Hill.
The only thing that matters is submitting to the will of God.
I've made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven't lived in vain.
I used to tease Joe Louis by reminding him that I was the greatest of all time. But Joe Louis was the greatest heavyweight fighter ever.
Don't feel sorry for me.
I had a good time boxing. I enjoyed it - and I may come back.
I calculate that I took 20,000 punches, but I earned millions and kept a lot of it. I may talk slow, but my mind is OK.
Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head.
I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.
To make America the greatest is my goal, so I beat the Russian and I beat the Pole. And for the U.S.A. won the medal of gold. The Greeks said, 'You're better than the Cassius of old.'
All of us are so mixed. My great-grandfather was white.
Anywhere I go, there is always an incredible crowd that follows me. In Rome, as I land at the airport, even the men kiss me. I love Rome.
If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you - until you get your revenge.
No boxer in the history of boxing has had Parkinson's. There's no injury in my brain that suggests that the illness came from boxing.
White people just don't want their slaves to be free. That's the whole thing.
We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all.
America is the greatest country in the world.
It's in my blood to be around people while I was training.
Go up in an airplane. Go high enough, and it's like we don't even exist.
I wanted to use my fame and this face that everyone knows so well to help uplift and inspire people around the world.
I got no quarrel with them Vietcong.
I give thanks to God and to all the people in the U.K. who have supported me over the years.
Joe Frazier got hit more than me - and he doesn't have Parkinson's.
People don't realize what they had till it's gone. Like President Kennedy, there was no one like him, the Beatles, and my man Elvis Presley. I was the Elvis of boxing.
I said I was 'The Greatest,' I never said I was the smartest!
I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing, and the shadow won.
I'm the greatest thing that ever lived! I'm the king of the world! I'm a bad man. I'm the prettiest thing that ever lived.
Cassius Clay is a name that white people gave to my slave master. Now that I am free, that I don't belong anymore to anyone, that I'm not a slave anymore, I gave back their white name, and I chose a beautiful African one.
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.
You can't keep your mind on fighting when you're thinking about a woman. You can't keep your concentration. You feel like sleeping all the time.
The Nation of Islam's main focus was teaching black pride and self-awareness. Why should we keep trying to force ourselves into white restaurants and schools when white people didn't want us? Why not clean up our own neighborhoods and schools instead of trying to move out of them and into white people's neighborhoods?
I'm no leader; I'm a little humble follower.
My principles are more important than the money or my title.
The white man is destroying the world.
Life is so, so short. Bible says it's like a vapor.
I've been everywhere in the world, seen everything, had everything a man can have.
I shook up the world, I shook up the world.
If I said I would knock out Sonny Liston in 1 minute and 49 seconds of the first round, that would hurt the gate.
Ever since I first came here in 1963 to fight Henry Cooper, I have loved the people of England.
Never put your money against Cassius Clay, for you will never have a lucky day.
I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him.
The fact is, I was never too bright in school. I ain't ashamed of it, though. I mean, how much do school principals make a month?
Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can't talk. The man can't fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he's gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.
I should be a postage stamp, because that's the only way I'll ever get licked. I'm beautiful. I'm fast. I'm so mean I make medicine sick. I can't possibly be beat.
All black Americans have slave names. They have white names; names that the slave master has given to them.
My trainer don't tell me nothing between rounds. I don't allow him to. I fight the fight. All I want to know is did I win the round. It's too late for advice.
