It’s hard to beat a guy when he has his mind made up that he wants to win. Muhammad Ali, post-Olympic interview
It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am. Muhammad Ali
It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. Muhammad Ali, cf. Sugar Ray Leonard
I went downtown and I sat down and I said, ‘A cup of coffee, a hot dog.’ The lady said, ‘We don’t serve Negroes.’ I was so mad I said, ‘I don’t eat them either. Just give me a cup of coffee and a hot dog.’ Muhammad Ali, interview The Parkinson Show
I would like to say that I didn’t lose a thing up until this very moment. I haven’t lost one thing. O have gained a lot. Number one: I have gained a peace of mind. I have gained a peace of heart. I now know that I am in content with almighty God himself, whose proper name is Allah. Muhammad Ali
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. Muhammad Ali
My name is not Clay. Clay is the name of the people that owned my ancestors, and I no longer wanna be called by that slave name. Muhammad Ali
My prediction for the next fight is I’ll be there. Muhammad Ali, interview Reg Gutteridge, When Ali Came to Newcastle
My strongest hand is the right, but the fastest and the most constant is the left. Muhammad Ali, interview David Frost, The Then and Now of Muhammad Ali
No-one knows what to say in the loser’s locker room. Muhammad Ali
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. Muhammad Ali
People will forget what you said, and they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Muhammad Ali
See, the greatest sports title mean nothing, mister, if you cannot be free, see. Boys in Vietnam are throwing away, you may say, their lives. I haven’t did that much. They are dying today to free somebody they don’t know. I’m still living. So what in the hell is a heavyweight title and a few sneaker dollar bills for my people’s freedom? Muhammad Ali, television interview
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. Muhammad Ali
The most important thing about life is what’s going to happen when you die. Are you going to go to Heaven or Hell? And there’s eternity: how long is eternity? Muhammad Ali, interview Reg Gutteridge, When Ali Came to Newcastle
This is a test to see where we spend our life – heaven or hell. Muhammad Ali, interview Reg Gutteridge, When Ali Came to Newcastle
True, fighting was all that I had ever done, but there was always something in me that rebelled against it. Maybe it was because those who profited most from it didn’t think of fighters as human or intelligent. They saw us as made just for the entertainment of the rich. Muhammad Ali
When I get out of boxing, or when I’m through, I’m going to do all I can to help people. Muhammad Ali, interview Reg Gutteridge, cited When Ali Came to Newcastle
When you can whip any man in the world you never know peace. Muhammad Ali
When you saw me in the boxing ring fighting, it wasn’t just so I could beat my opponent. My fighting had a purpose. I had to be successful in order to get people to listen to the things I had to say. Muhammad Ali, The Soul of a Butterfly
Why me? The Heavyweight Champ of the World. And ranking me as 1A without testing me – no way. I can’t understand it. And I’m trying to figure out, Why me? Muhammad Ali
Why should me and so-called Negroes go ten-thousand miles away from home and America to drop bombs and bullets on other innocent brown people who has never bothered us? And I will say directly, No, I will not go. Muhammad Ali
Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again: the real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years. Muhammad Ali
I ain’t draft-dodgin’. I ain’t burnin’ no flag. And I ain’t runnin’ to Canada. I’m stayin’ right here.
You wanna send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I can be there for 4 or 5 more.
But I ain’t goin’ no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I wanna die, I’ll die right here, right now fightin’ you — if I wanna die.
You my enemy. Not no Chinese, no Viet Cong, no Japanese
You my opposer — when I want freedom.
You my opposer — when I want justice.
You my opposer — when I want equality.
Want me to go to somewhere and I fight for you. You won’t even stand up for me right here in America for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for me right here at home. Muhammad Ali
You’re not as dumb as you look, Harry. Muhammad Ali, interview Harry Carpenter