Muhammad Ali on Stoicism Quotes

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

"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."

"The man who has no imagination has no wings."

"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."

"It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision."

"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was."

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."

"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer."

"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are."

"What keeps me going is goals."

"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."

"It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe."

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

"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."

"If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it."

"It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself."

"Live every day like it's your last because someday you're going to be right."

"Inside of a ring or out, there ain't nothing wrong with going down. It's staying down that's wrong."

"Others may know pleasure, but pleasure is not happiness. It has no more importance than a shadow following a man."

"Truly great people in history never wanted to be great for themselves. All they wanted was the chance to do good for others."

"If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you."

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see."

"I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."

"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail."

"My only fault is that I don't realize how great I really am."

"Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are."

"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 a fighter. I believe in the eye-for-an-eye business. I got no respect for a man who won't hit back."

"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."

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

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

"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."