Don't count the days, make the days count.

Superman don't need no seat belt. Comment to a flight attendant, who replied: "Superman don't need no airplane, either."

I'm a Muslim. I've been a Muslim for 20 years. . . . You know me. I'm a boxer. I've been called the greatest. People recognize me for being a boxer and a man of truth. I wouldn't be here representing Islam if it were terrorist. . . . I think all people should know the truth, come to recognize the truth. Islam is peace.

God gave me this illness to remind me that I'm not number One; he is.

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.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see, rumble young man, rumble!

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 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? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn’t have to draft me, I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail, so what? We’ve been in jail for 400 years.

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.

If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

What's really hurting me, the name Islam is involved, and Muslim is involved and causing trouble and starting hate and violence. ... Islam is not a killer religion. ... Islam means peace, I couldn't just sit home and watch people label Muslims as the reason for this problem.

The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.

Prejudice comes from being in the dark; sunlight disinfects it.

If Allah says a mosquito can pull a plow, don't ask how. Hitch him up.

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.

Fifteen referees. I want fifteen referees to be at this fight because there ain't no one man who can keep up with the pace I'm gonna set except me. There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked.

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

If my fans think I can do everything I say I can do, then they're crazier than I am.

I'm the best. I just haven't played yet. When asked about his golf game.

I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.

I don't always know what I'm talking about, but I know I'm right.

Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.

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

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. Statement after losing his fight to Ken Norton (1973-03-31).