Quotes by Muhammad Ali

Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.

— Muhammad Ali

Friendship

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

— Muhammad Ali

Life

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

— Muhammad Ali

Courage

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.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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.

— Muhammad Ali

Truth

The word 'Islam' means 'peace.' The word 'Muslim' means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the press makes us seem like haters.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams - they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do - they all contain truths.

— Muhammad Ali

Truth

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.

— Muhammad Ali

Life

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

The man who has no imagination has no wings.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

My only fault is that I don't realize how great I really am.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.

— Muhammad Ali

Hope

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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

Wisdom

I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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

Life

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

Wisdom

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

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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.

— Muhammad Ali

Wisdom

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

— Muhammad Ali

Life