It seems like 2016 has been the year of lost icons. There was Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and now the world has lost the greatest boxer of all times – Muhammad Ali. Ali was so much more than just a boxer. He was the definition of a cultural icon. Ali was known for his prowess in the ring, but it was his showmanship and ability to create hype around his fights that made him different. You see modern examples of this in fighters like Connor McGreggor who talks about the powers of the law of attraction and how he uses it in his life. When it comes to the law of attraction being applied to a fighting career, Ali wrote that book. It was Ali who said, “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.” Truer words have rarely been spoken. Here is a collection of some of Ali’s most profound quotes throughout his amazing career and incredible life. You will be missed, Mr. Ali.
“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.”
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’.”
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Live every day as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.”
“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
“Often it isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the little pebble in your shoe.”
“The man with no imagination has no wings.”
“What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming.”
“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.”
“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”
“You lose nothing when fighting for a cause … In my mind, the losers are those who don’t have a cause they care about.”
“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.”
“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.”
“It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can’t hit what the eyes can’t see.”
“I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace. ”
“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”
“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.”