The Louisville Lip | Greatest quotes by Muhammad Ali

Arun S Kaimal
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Muhammad Ali was the ‘Greatest’ in the ring, but his greatness was not confined to the boxing arena. The American boxer also possessed one of the greatest minds and one of the sharpest tongues in sports. Let’s remember the Champion through a collection of his greatest quotes.

Ali, who was born as Cassius Clay, in Louisville, Kentucky on January 17, 1942, started boxing when he was 12. He won the Golden Gloves title in 1960 before heading to the Olympics in Rome to win the gold medal in light heavyweight division.

Ali turned to professional boxing shortly after the victory in Rome and was nicknamed "the Louisville Lip," for his style of talking up his own talents. He also packed a real punch in the boxing ring and went on to become three-time World heavyweight champion. The ‘Greatest’, as he was called, retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.

10. “The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.”

9. “I’ve wrestled with alligators. I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”

8. “The man who has no imagination has no wings.”

7. “Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.”

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

5. “It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”

4. "Don't count the days. Make the days count."

3. "Impossible is just a 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. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

2. "Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. You can't hit what your eyes don't see."

1. "I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I was really the greatest."

All Images Courtesy: © Getty Images & Twitter - Muhammad Ali

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