“The most beautiful fighter in the world today. He talks a great deal, and brags indeed-y, of a muscular punch that’s incredibly speedy. The fistic world was dull and weary, But with a champ like Liston, things had to be dreary. Then someone with color and someone with dash, Brought fight fans are runnin’ with Cash. This brash young boxer is something to see And the heavyweight championship is his des-tin-y. This kid fights great; he’s got speed and endurance, But if you sign to fight him, increase your insurance. This kid’s got a left; this kid’s got a right, If he hit you once, you’re asleep for the night. And as you lie on the floor while the ref counts ten, You’ll pray that you won’t have to fight me again. For I am the man this poem’s about, The next champ of the world, there isn’t a doubt. This I predict and I know the score, I’ll be champ of the world in ’64. When I say three, they’ll go in the third,
10 months ago
So don’t bet against me, I’m a man of my word. He is the greatest! Yes! I am the man this poem’s about, I’ll be champ of the world, there isn’t a doubt. Here I predict Mr. Liston’s dismemberment, I’ll hit him so hard; he’ll wonder where October and November went. When I say two, there’s never a third, Standin against me is completely absurd. When Cassius says a mouse can outrun a horse, Don’t ask how; put your money where your mouse is!
I AM THE GREATEST!”
Muhammad Ali’s 50 Greatest Quotes
“You lose nothing when fighting for a cause … In my mind the losers are those who don’t have a cause they care about.”
“The Service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.”
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life”
“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” “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.”
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.”
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”
“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
“Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams — they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do — they all contain truths”
“I Ain’t Got No Quarrel With The VietCong…No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger.”
“Put yourself out on a limb, sucka, like me! – young Cassius Clay to heavily favored thug Sonny Liston during the weigh in before Cassius wins his first title and changes his name to Muhammad Ali.”
“IT AINT BRAGGING IF YOU CAN BACK IT UP”
“The man with no imagination has no wings.”
“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.”
“What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming.”
“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
“It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
“Often it isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the little pebble in your shoe.”
“If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.”
“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” “Others may know pleasure, but pleasure is not happiness. It has no more importance than a shadow following a man.”
“Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are”
“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”
“It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.”
“I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours;
my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.”
“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.” “Jokes? There are no jokes. The truth is the funniest joke of all.”
“I am the greatest.”
“I’m the greatest, I’m a bad man, and I’m pretty!”
“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.” “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”
“The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road; long before I dance under those lights.”
“I never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life. ”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.”
“What keeps me going is goals.”
“It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”
“Go to College, Stay in school, If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”
“Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.”
“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.” “This is the legend of Cassius Clay,
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
“I’m a fighter. I believe in the eye-for-an-eye business. I’m no cheek turner. I got no respect for a man who won’t hit back. You kill my dog, you better hide your cat.”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
“Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.”
“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.”
“Superman don’t need no seat belt.”
“I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.”
“Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise.” “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.”
“The man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” “I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.” “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”
“Service to others is the rent that we pay on earth for our room in heaven”
“I hated every minute of the training, but i told myself, “don’t quit. Suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion”
“There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people”
“I’ve wrestled with alligators,
I’ve tussled with a whale.
I done handcuffed lightning
And throw thunder in jail.
You know I’m bad.
just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.
I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”
“If your mind can conceive it; and your heart can believe it – then you can achieve it.”
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