I had to prove you could be a new kind of black man. I had to show the world.

All black Americans have slave names. They have white names; names that the slave master has given to them.

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.

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.

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

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

My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.

I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free.

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

The only thing that matters is submitting to the will of God.

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

All of us are so mixed. My great-grandfather was white.

I'm no leader; I'm a little humble follower.

You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned? Wait till I whup George Foreman's behind.

My toughest fight was with my first wife.

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

America is the greatest country in the world.

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

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.

There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people.

Ali's got a left, Ali's got a right - when he knocks you down, you'll sleep for the night; and when you lie on the floor and the ref counts to ten, hope and pray that you never meet me again.

I'm more at home with my log cabins than I am in my house in Cherry Hill.