Quotes to inspire and reflect

Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.

Old age is just a record of one's whole life.

I said I was 'The Greatest,' I never said I was the smartest.

What keeps me going is goals.

The fact is, I was never too bright in school. I ain't ashamed of it, though. I mean, how much do school principals make a month?

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.

We can't be brave without fear.

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.

I shook up the world, I’m the king of the world. You must listen to me. I am the greatest! I can't be beat.

I've been everywhere in the world, seen everything, had everything a man can have.

What counts in the ring is what you can do after you're exhausted. The same is true of life.

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.

I am not the greatest, I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ‘em out, I pick the round. I’m the boldest, the prettiest, the most superior, most scientific, most skillfullest fighter in the ring today.

I'd like for them to say he took a few cups of love, he took one tablespoon of patience, teaspoon of generosity, one pint of kindness. He took one quart of laughter, one pinch of concern, and then, he mix willingness with happiness, he added lots of faith, and he stirred it up well, then he spreads it over his span of a lifetime, and he served it to each and every deserving person he met.

I told you all, all of my critics, that I was the greatest of all time. Never make me the underdog until I'm about 50 years old.

When I was 14, and listening to the radio, and I heard the announcer: 'Still champion of the whole world – Rocky Marciano.' I knew I wanted to be champion. He was a big influence.

Champions aren't made in the 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.

I am the greatest, I'm the greatest that ever lived. I don't have a mark on my face.

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.

I'm the greatest, I'm a bad man, and I'm pretty.

There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see.

No boxer in the history of boxing has had Parkinson's. There's no injury in my brain that suggests that the illness came from boxing.

If I said I would knock out Sonny Liston in 1 minute and 49 seconds of the first round, that would hurt the gate.

Joe Frazier got hit more than me - and he doesn't have Parkinson's.

Ever since I first came here in 1963 to fight Henry Cooper, I have loved the people of England.

To make America the greatest is my goal, so I beat the Russian and I beat the Pole. And for the U.S.A. won the medal of gold. The Greeks said, 'You're better than the Cassius of old.

You can't keep your mind on fighting when you're thinking about a woman. You can't keep your concentration. You feel like sleeping all the time.

I should be a postage stamp, because that's the only way I'll ever get licked. I'm beautiful. I'm fast. I'm so mean I make medicine sick. I can't possibly be beat.

I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round.

If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you - until you get your revenge.

I always bring out the best in men I fight, but Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me. I'm gonna tell ya, that's one helluva man, and God bless him.

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.

When I won the Golden Gloves in 1960 that made me realize I had a chance. And when I won at the Olympics that sealed it: I was the champ.

No one knows what to say in the loser's locker room.

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.

They can boo me, yell at me and throw peanuts at me – as long as they pay to get in.

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.

My trainer don't tell me nothing between rounds. I don't allow him to. I fight the fight. All I want to know is did I win the round. It's too late for advice.

I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.

I have been so great in boxing they had to create an image like Rocky, a white image on the screen, to counteract my image in the ring. America has to have its white images, no matter where it gets them. Jesus, Wonder Woman, Tarzan and Rocky.

When I’m gone, boxing will be nothing again. The fans with the cigars and the hats turned down’ll be there, but no more housewives and little men in the street and foreign presidents. It’s goin’ to be back to the fighter who comes to town, smells a flower, visits a hospital, blows a horn and says he’s in shape. Old hat. I was the onliest boxer in history people asked questions like a senator.

I outwit them, and then I outhit them.

I'm so fast I could hit you before God gets the news.

If you sign to fight me, you need speed and endurance but what you need most is to increase your insurance.

The man who will whip me will be fast, strong and hasn't been born yet.

Never put your money against Cassius Clay, for you will never have a lucky day.

I want 15 referees to be at this fight because there ain’t no one man who can keep up with the pace I am gonna set, except me.