Muhammad Ali Quotes
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They say actually every time I enter the ring, in a way, I`m going to the war. They say to me daily, you are a prized fighter, what`s the difference? And I like to say to those critics of the press and the others that there is one hell of a lot of difference in fighting in a ring and going to war in Vietnam.
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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.
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Boxing is just to introduce me to the struggle. Like, when I speak I draw people in the States to teach them various things or to give them dignity, pride and self-help. I have to help the dope and prostitution problem.
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Emmett Till and I were about the same age. A week after he was murdered... I stood on a corner with a gang of boys, looking at pictures of him in the black newspapers and magazines. In one, he was laughing and happy. In the other, his head was swollen and bashed in, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, and his mouth twisted and broken... I couldn't get Emmett Till out of my mind, until one evening I thought of a way to get back at white people for his death.
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Success is not achieved by winning all the time. Real success comes when we rise after we fall.
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I hospitalized a rock, killed a brick...I'm so bad I make medicine sick!
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It isn't the mountains that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.
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I'm just hoping that people understand that Islam is peace and not violence.
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You could be the world's best garbage man, the world's best model; it don't matter what you do if you're the best.
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I don't count my situps. I only start counting once it starts hurting.
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Frank Sinatra told Floyd Paterson how he should whoop me. Frank Sinatra.
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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.
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I never push in front my muscles, only my religion, so I'm protected.
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I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'
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On my twelfth birthday, I got a new bicycle as a present from my folks, and I rode it to a fair that was being held at the Columbia Gymnasium, and when I come out, my bike was gone. I was so mad I was crying, and a policeman, Joe Martin, come up and I told him I was going to whip whoever took my bike. He said I ought to take some boxing lessons to learn how to whip the thief better, and I did. That's when I started fighting.
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I don't count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. That is when I start counting, because then it really counts. That's what makes you a champion.
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To be a follower of The Honorable Elijah Mohammed, you have to completely extain from alcohol, or fornication, adultered, killin', stealin', lyin'. I would say that the people are not rejectin' the Honorable Elijah Mohammed because they don't believe what he teach.
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If you look at the world the same way when you're 50 that you did when you were 20, then you wasted 30 years.
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Whether it's boxing, basketball, or badminton, one must be ready to succeed before entering the arena...long before the lights come up.
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I do need publicity but not for what I do for good. I need publicity for my book. I need publicity for my fights. I need publicity for my movie but not for helping people. Then it is no longer sincere.
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When a man says I cannot, he has made a suggestion to himself. He has weakened his power of accomplishing that which otherwise would have been accomplished.
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What keeps me going is goals.
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There live a great man named Joe who was belittled by a loudmouth foe. While his rival would taunt and tease Joe silently bore the stings. And then fought like gladiator in the ring.
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If Ali says a mosquito can pull a plow, don't ask how. Hitch him up.