Without question Muhammad Ali is and always will be, one of the greatest boxers of all time. But he wasn’t just a great boxer, he was also a great human. Ali was able to dazzle his audience and opponents outside of the ring with his words just as effectively as he was able to shock and stun both his audience and his opponents when he was inside the ring.
He was as they say, the total package. And that is exactly what has inspired us to publish this powerful collection of Muhammad Ali quotes.
Our hope is that these inspirational Ali quotes can help you tap your inner champion so you can become the greatest version of yourself. But not only that, so you can leverage his wise words to not only become your best self, but to also live your greatest life.
So, if you’re ready for some of the hardest hitting Muhammad Ali quotes of all time, let’s dive right in:
100+ BEST MUHAMMAND ALI QUOTES OF ALL TIME
1. “We can’t be brave without fear.” – Muhammad Ali
2. “It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself.” – Muhammad Ali
3. “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali
4. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali
5. “Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” – Muhammad Ali
6. “I hated ever minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali
7. “If my mind can conceive it, it my heart can believe it — then I can achieve it.” – Muhammad Ali
8. “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.” – Muhammad Ali
9. “I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ’em out, I pick the round.” – Muhammad Ali
10. “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.” – Muhammad Ali
11. “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
12. “I should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.” – Muhammad Ali
13. “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” – Muhammad Ali
14. “The fight is wont or lost far way from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – Muhammad Ali
15. “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, hospitalized a brick; I’m so mean I make medicine sick.” – Muhammad Ali
16. “Most people seek comfort in the moment, even if it leads to pain later…. Very few people are willing to go through PAIN in the moment for the possibility of a brighter future.” – Muhammad Ali
17. “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” – Muhammad Ali
18. “Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” – Muhammad Ali
19. “There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.” – Muhammad Ali
20. “A man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali
21. “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
22. “I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believe in myself, and I believe in the goodness of others.” – Muhammad Ali
23. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali
24. “You don’t have to be in a boxing ring to be a great fighter. As long as you are true to yourself, you will succeed in your fight for that in which you believe.” – Muhammad Ali
25. “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
26. “My principles are more important than the money or my title.” – Muhammad Ali
27. “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
28. “I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my bedroom and was in bed before the room was dark.” – Muhammad Ali
29. “My only fault is that I don’t realize how great I really am.” – Muhammad Ali
30. “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.” – Muhammad Ali
31. “What keeps me going is goals.” – Muhammad Ali
32. “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
33. “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.” – Muhammad Ali
34. “I am grateful for all my victories, but I am especially grateful for my losses, because they only made me work harder.” – Muhammad Ali
35. “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
36. “People run in packs because they don’t feel safe alone. I run alone because I don’t feel safe in packs.” – Muhammad Ali
37. “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
38. “I shook up the world. Me! Whee!!” – Muhammad Ali
39. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Muhammad Ali
40. “The only limitations one has are the ones they place on themselves.” – Muhammad Ali
41. “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” – Muhammad Ali
42. “I don’t count the sit ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count. That’s what makes you a champion.” – Muhammad Ali
43. “What you are thinking about, you are becoming.” – Muhammad Ali
44. “Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.” – Muhammad Ali
45. “Do not live in regret.” – Muhammad Ali
46. “We all have the same God, we just serve him differently. Rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, oceans all have different names, but they all contain water. So do religions have different names, and they all contain truth, expressed in different ways, forms, and times.” – Muhammad Ali
47. “You should be constantly evolving and growing who you are from life experience and from the work you do on you.” – Muhammad Ali
48. “The real question is this, is the reward worth the risk? Whatever you really want in life is worth the risk.” – Muhammad Ali
49. “You must believe you deserve it, work toward it until you see it, and affirm it until you become it” – Muhammad Ali
50. “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
Halfway There
Congrats, you’ve made it through the first half of these quotes, but don’t stop now! You’re six rounds in and you’ve got six more to go.
Massive inspiration awaits in this next bundle of Muhammad Ali quotes. So keep to it!
Related: Motivational Rocky Quotes
51. “You don’t lose if you get knocked down; you lose if you stay down.” – Muhammad Ali
52. “To make America the greatest is my goal, so I beat the Russian and I beat the Pole. And for the USA won the medal of gold. The Greeks said you’re better than the Cassius of old.” – Muhammad Ali
53. “I am gonna show you how great I am.” – Muhammad Ali
54. “I’m young; I’m handsome’ I’m fast. I can’t possibly be beat.” – Muhammad Ali
55. “It will be a killer, and a chiller, and a thriller, when I get the gorilla in Manila.” – Muhammad Ali
56. “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.” – Muhammad Ali
57. “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.” – Muhammad Ali
58. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.” – Muhammad Ali
59. “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
60. “The man to beat me hasn’t been born yet.” – Muhammad Ali
61. “Wisdom is knowing when you can’t be wise.” – Muhammad Ali
62. “Each time I thought I had achieved my ‘life’s purpose‘, I discovered it was only another step in my journey.” – Muhammad Ali
63. “The greatest victory in life is to rise above the material things that we once valued most.” – Muhammad Ali
64. “The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.” – Muhammad Ali
65. “Live everyday like it was your last because some day you are going to be right.” – Muhammad Ali
66. “My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.” – Muhammad Ali
67. “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
68. “Women are the field that produces our nation. And if you can’t protect your women, you can’t protect your nation.” – Muhammad Ali
69. “Frazier’s got two chances. Slim, and none. And Slim just left town.” – Muhammad Ali
70. “No one starts out on top. You have to work your way up.” – Muhammad Ali
71. “I don’t trust anyone who is nice to me but rude to the waiter. Because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position.” – Muhammad Ali
72. “I would like to be remembered as a man who won the heavyweight title three times. Who was humorous and who treated everyone right. As a man who never looked down on those who looked up to him, and who helped as many people as he could. As a man who stood up for his beliefs no matter what. As a man who tried to unite all humankind through faith and love. And if all that’s too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn’t even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was.” – Muhammad Ali
73. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali
74. “Too many easy victories can ruin a fighter just as much as a long line of defeats.” – Muhammad Ali
75. “Put yourself out on a limb, like me!” – Muhammad Ali
76. “It’s funny, but those who hate me the most sometimes inspire me the most.” – Muhammad Ali
77. “I calculate that I took 20,000 punches, but I earned millions and kept a lot of it. I may talk slow, but my mind is OK.” – Muhammad Ali
78. “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
79. “No one knows what to say in the loser’s locker room.” – Muhammad Ali
80. “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” – Muhammad Ali
81. “Truly great people in history never wanted to be great for themselves. All they wanted was the chance to do good for others and be close to God.” – Muhammad Ali
82. “You lose nothing when fighting for a cause … In my mind, the losers are those who don’t have a cause they care about.” – Muhammad Ali
83. “I said I was ‘The Greatest,’ I never said I was ‘the smartest!” – Muhammad Ali
84. “I’ve never let anyone talk me into not believing in myself.” – Muhammad Ali
85. “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
87. “When I get out of boxing, I am going to do all I can to help people.” – Muhammad Ali
87. “His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.” – Muhammad Ali
88. “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.” – Muhammad Ali
89. “I don’t think that there is no heavy weight alive who couldn’t beat me, I KNOW there are none alive.” – Muhammad Ali
90. “I told you all that I was the greatest of all time.” – Muhammad Ali
91. “If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whip Foreman’s behind.” – Muhammad Ali
92. “I stayed on the ropes. When I stay on the ropes, you think I am doing bad. But I want all boxers to put this on the page of boxing, staying on the ropes is a beautiful thing with a heavy weight when you make him shoot his best shots and you know he is not hitting you.” – Muhammad Ali
93. “I don’t pay no attention to what they say about me.” – Muhammad Ali
94. “People don’t realize what they had till it’s gone. Like President Kennedy, there was no one like him, the Beatles, and my man Elvis Presley. I was the Elvis of boxing.” – Muhammad Ali
95. “Boxing is stepping stone just to introduce me to the audience.” – Muhammad Ali
96. “If you even dream of beating me, you’d better wake up and apologize.” – Muhammad Ali
97. “I am a dance and be pretty and I am just gonna win on points. If I hurt my man I am going to let him go, I am not going to kill him just because someone is watching.” – Muhammad Ali
98. “Bragging is when a person says something and can’t do it. I do what I say.” – Muhammad Ali
99. “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
100. “True success is reaching our potential without compromising our values.” – Muhammad Ali
Final Thoughts
Alright, there you have it, the best of the best Muhammad Ali quotes. We hope you enjoyed these powerful Muhammad Ali inspirational quotes, but more importantly, we hope they inspired you in some way shape or form.
If you know of someone who could use a good dose of Muhammad Ali inspired motivation, please share this page with them.
With that being said, if and when life knocks you down get back up, and whatever you do, don’t stop swinging!
Till next time,
STRIVE
PS – If you enjoyed these highly motivating Muhammad Ali quotes, then you’ll likely also enjoy these inspiring quotes from fellow champions like Tyson Fury or Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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