God tries you in certain, certain ways. Some people are rich, and they believe in God. They lose the money, things get hard, they get weak and quit going to church. Quit serving God like they did.
— Muhammad Ali
Terrorists are not following Islam. Killing people and blowing up people and dropping bombs in places and all this is not the way to spread the word of Islam. So people realize now that all Muslims are not terrorists.
I would say things like 'I am the greatest! I'm pretty! If you talk jive, you'll drop in five! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I'm pretty!' When white people heard me talking like this, some said, 'That black man talks too much. He's bragging.'
I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believed in myself, and I believe in the goodness of others.
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.
Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.
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.
It's not bragging if you can back it up.
Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams - they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do - they all contain truths.
I figure I'll be champ for about ten years and then I'll let my brother take over - like the Kennedys down in Washington.
My toughest fight was with my first wife.
No one knows what to say in the loser's locker room.
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace.
Superman don't need no seat belt.
I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free.
Allah's the Arabic term for God. Stand up for God, fight for God, work for God and do the right thing, and go the right way, things will end up in your corner.
When I won the Golden Gloves in 1960, that made me realize I had a chance. And when I won at the Olympics, that sealed it: I was the champ.
The name Muhammad is the most common name in the world. In all the countries around the world - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon - there are more Muhammads than anything else. When I joined the Nation of Islam and became a Muslim, they gave me the most famous name because I was the champ.
I had to prove you could be a new kind of black man. I had to show the world.
I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.
I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.
If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.
My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.
Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer.
The man who has no imagination has no wings.
Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the U.S. Bureau of Wild Life.
I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.
It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am.
A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
Life is a gamble. You can get hurt, but people die in plane crashes, lose their arms and legs in car accidents; people die every day. Same with fighters: some die, some get hurt, some go on. You just don't let yourself believe it will happen to you.
When you can whip any man in the world, you never know peace.
Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
I'm just hoping that people understand that Islam is peace and not violence.
The word 'Islam' means 'peace.' The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the press makes us seem like haters.
You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned? Wait till I whup George Foreman's behind.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing.
I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.
Old age is just a record of one's whole life.
To be able to give away riches is mandatory if you wish to possess them. This is the only way that you will be truly rich.
I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.
What keeps me going is goals.
I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.
There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people.
I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own.
Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.
It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
