Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston

Universally recognised as one of the most iconic athletes of all time, Muhammad Ali dominated the sport of boxing, both in the ring and in the headlines, throughout his illustrious career.

Ali was a magnificent boxer, but he is also renowned for some of the clever quotes that he used.

Lines like, “I am the greatest,” and “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” are among some of the better known statements of his, but he also had some more profound comments that I find both inspirational and thought-provoking.

Here are some of my favourites quotes from Muhammad Ali:

I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t Quit now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

Sometimes, it can be hard to do the things that are going to pay off in the long-term.  This quote reminds us that it’s worth pushing through the pain and inconvenience if we want to be a success in the future.

I am the Greatest, I said that before I was.

Ali’s self belief was legendary, but we need to have a similar level of confidence if we want to make the most of our abilities.  What do you want to be and what are you going to start saying to yourself now to bring it to reality?

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

I absolutely love this quote and am determined to make sure that this doesn’t happen to me.  Keep reading great books, keep having interesting conversations with intelligent people who don’t always agree with you, keep watching TED talks.  Whatever it is that you do, keep learning and keep expanding your mind.  Life’s too short to be a hamster on a wheel. 

If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.

Be encouraged by this statement.   Whatever your situation is, even if you’ve lost all hope, remember that you haven’t peaked yet, there’s still time to make an impact and you can still achieve great things with your life.

I hope that you found these quotes helpful.

Do you have any other favourite Muhammad Ali quotes that you would like to share?

Previous post – What’s the Greater Risk?