Great Throughts Treasury

"If your mind can conceive it; and your heart can believe it - then you can achieve it."

"If you were surprised when Nixon resigned, just watch what happens when I whup Foreman's behind!"

"I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on. [on Floyd Patterson]"

"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."

"I'll be floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee."

"I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round."

"I'm retiring because there are more pleasant things to do than beat up people."

"I'm the best. I just haven't played yet."

"I'm so mean I make medicine sick"

"I'm the greatest thing that ever lived. I'm so great I don't have a mark on my face. I shook up the world."

"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."

"Impossible is nothing."

"It?s hard to be humble, when you?re as great as I am."

"In a competition of love we'll all share in the victory, no matter who comes first."

"It isn?t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it?s the pebble in your shoe."

"It aint bragging if you can back it up."

"It?s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself."

"It?s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."

"Last night I had a dream, When I got to Africa, I had one hell of a rumble. I had to beat Tarzan?s behind first, for claiming to be King of the Jungle. for this fight, 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."

"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."

"Love is a net that catches hearts like a fish."

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

"It's a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself."

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

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

"Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head."

"Jokes? There are no jokes. The truth is the funniest joke of all."

"Just last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I?m so mean, I make medicine sick. I?m so fast, man, I can run through a hurricane and don't get wet. when George Foreman meets me, he?ll pay his debt. I can drown the drink of water, and kill a dead tree. Wait till you see Muhammad Ali."

"My toughest fight was with my first wife."

"My way of joking is to tell the truth. That?s the funniest joke in the world."

"Now I had won the gold medal. But it didn't mean anything, because I didn't have the right color skin."

"Religions all have different names, but they all contain the same truths. ... I think the people of our religion should be tolerant and understand people believe different things."

"Parkinson's is my toughest fight. No, it doesn't hurt. It's hard to explain. I'm being tested to see if I'll keep praying, to see if I'll keep my faith. All great people are tested by God."

"Rumble young man! Rumble!"

"My wealth is in my knowledge of self, love, and spirituality."

"No one knows what to say in the loser's locker room."

"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."

"Service to others is the price that you pay for your place here on Earth."

"Since I won't let the critics seal my fate, they keep hollering I'm full of hate. But they don't really hurt me none, 'cause I'm doing good and having fun."

"Sting like a bee!"

"Silence is golden when you can?t think of a good answer."

"That's the only way you gonna save this sucker. He's doomed."

"Superman don't need no seat belt."

"The man who has no imagination has no wings."

"The greater our level of understanding, the harder the tests become."

"The most beautiful fighter in the world today. He talks a great deal, and brags indeed-y, of a muscular punch that's incredibly speed-y. 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, two years 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!"

"The man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."

"The outgoing and spontaneous person that the world knew while I was boxing was a persona that I created to sell tickets and promote my career. In my private life, I am quiet and reflective by nature."

"The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued most."

"The Service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."