Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali /ɑːˈliː/was an American Olympic and professional boxer and activist. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century. From early in his career, Ali was known as an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the ring...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBoxer
Date of Birth17 January 1942
CityLouisville, KY
CountryUnited States of America
ground pie sky
You don't want no pie in the sky when you die,/ You want something here on the ground while you're still around.
calculate kept millions mind took
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.
fame knows people uplift
I wanted to use my fame and this face that everyone knows so well to help uplift and inspire people around the world.
drop float heard man people sting talk talking talks white
I would say things like 'I am the greatest! I'm pretty! If you talk jive, you'll drop in five! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I'm pretty!' When white people heard me talking like this, some said, 'That black man talks too much. He's bragging.'
life says
Life is so, so short. Bible says it's like a vapor.
I shook up the world, I shook up the world.
believed develop hard man worked
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.
injured last mean thrown thunder
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, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick.
ahead american-athlete pebble wear
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.
advice american-athlete learned
Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
behind dance far fight gym lost witnesses won
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.
age-and-aging fifty man thirty twenty views wasted
The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
american-athlete man views wasted
The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
smart boxing great-boxing
I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty.