Muhammad Ali was born on the 17th of January, 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. He was an American professional boxer, activist and philanthropist. Nicknamed “the Greatest”.
Muhammad Ali is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century and as one of the greatest boxers of all time, with an impressive 56-win record. He was also known for his brave public stance against the Vietnam War.
Outside the ring, Muhammad Ali attained success as a musician, where he received two Grammy nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropinism and activism. He died on June 3, 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States.
Below, we have compiled a collection of popular Muhammad Ali quotes and sayings.
80 Muhammad Ali Quotes About Life, Love & Training
“I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to the waiter. Because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“There are no pleasures in a fight, but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am. – Muhammad Ali Quote
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 Quote
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 Quote
“If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“To be able to give away riches is mandatory if you wish to possess them. This is the only way that you will be truly rich.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“A man who has no imagination has no wings.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I said I was ‘The Greatest,’ I never said I was the smartest!”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“It’s in my blood to be around people while I was training.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I’m the greatest thing that ever lived! I’m the king of the world! I’m a bad man. I’m the prettiest thing that ever lived.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“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.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“The only thing that matters is submitting to the will of God.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued most.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Enjoy your children, even when they don’t act the way you want them to.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“When we devote all of our actions to a spiritual goal, everything that we do becomes a prayer.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believed in myself, and I believe in the goodness of others.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Look at me. Look at my nose, perfect shape; lips, face. Now I’m not boasting, but it’s hard to be humble when you’re as pretty as I am.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I don’t get hit. I’m the fastest thing on two feet man!”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“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.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.– Muhammad Ali Quote
It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. – Muhammad Ali Quote
“Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I’ve wrestled with alligators / I’ve tussled with a whale / I done handcuffed lightning / And throw thunder in jail.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“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 Quote
“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.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“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 Quote
“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“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 Quote
“If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If not pretend you are.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“What keeps me going is goals.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.– Muhammad Ali Quote
No one knows what to say in the loser’s locker room.– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I don’t care how small the ring is, I’ll fight that chump in a telephone booth.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought nor sold, but its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“All I can do is fight for truth and justice. I can’t save anybody. He’s a science fiction character, and I’m a real character.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I wanted to use my fame and this face that everyone knows so well to help uplift and inspire people around the world.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“All through my life, I have been tested. My will has been tested, my courage has been tested, my strength has been tested. Now my patience and endurance are being tested.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“My wealth is in my knowledge of self, love, and spirituality.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Life is so, so short. Bible says it’s like a vapor.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Even the greatest was once a beginner. Don’t be afraid to take that first step.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“Rest but never quit. Even the sun has a sinking spell each evening. But it always rises the next morning.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I try to learn as much as I can because I know nothing compared to what I need to know.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“I do a lot of reading, a lot of studying. I ask questions, I’ll go out, travel these countries, I’ll watch how their people live, and I learn.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“Rest but never quit. Even the sun has a sinking spell each evening. But it always rises the next morning.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“No one starts out on top. You have to work your way up.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“When you want to talk about who made me, you talk to me. Who made me is ME.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven’t lived in vain.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“When it comes to love, compassion, and other feelings of the heart, I am rich.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand 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?”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother or some darker people or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“You’re my opposer when I want freedom; You’re my opposer when I want justice; You’re my opposer when I want equality; You won’t even stand up for me in America for my religious beliefs and you want me to go somewhere and fight, but you won’t even stand up for me here at home!”– Muhammad Ali Quote
Old age is just a record of one’s whole life.– Muhammad Ali Quote
My toughest fight was with my first wife.– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
What you are thinking is what you are becoming.– Muhammad Ali Quote
“Don’t count the days; make the days count.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“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 last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” – Muhammad Ali Quote
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”– Muhammad Ali Quote
“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 Quote
“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 Quote