A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his

life.
A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing. Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are. Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up. hampions aren't made in gyms. hampions are made from something they have deep inside them!a desire" a dream" a vision. #hey 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. $ra%ier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the &' Bureau of (ild )ife. $riendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship" you really haven't learned anything. *ating people because of their colour is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's +ust plain wrong. *e who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. I am America. I am the part you won't recogni%e. But get used to me. Black" confident" cocky, my name" not yours, my religion" not yours, my goals" my own, get used to me. I am the astronaut of boxing. -oe )ouis and .empsey were +ust +et pilots. I'm in a world of my own. I am the greatest" I said that even before I knew I was. I am the greatest. /ot only do I knock em out" I pick the round0 I believe in the religion of Islam. I believe in Allah and peace. I figure I'll be champ for about ten years and then I'll let my brother take over ! like the 1ennedy2s down in (ashington. I figured that if I said it enough" I would convince the world that I really was the greatest. I hated every minute of training" but I said" ''.on't 3uit. 'uffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'' 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. 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.

I run on the road" long before I dance under the lights. I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world. I'll be floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. I'll beat him so bad he'll need a shoehorn to put his hat on. I'm not the greatest, I'm the double greatest. /ot only do I knock 'em out" I pick the round. 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'm the best. I +ust haven't played yet. I'm the most recogni%ed and loved man that ever lived cu% there weren't no satellites when -esus and 4oses were around" so people far away in the villages didn't know about them. If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread" they can sure make something out of you. If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologi%e. It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it's the pebble in your shoe. It's hard to be humble" when you're as great as I am. It's +ust a +ob. 5rass grows" birds fly" waves pound the sand. I beat people up. It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges" and I believed in myself. It's not bragging if you can back it up. It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction" things begin to happen )ife is a gamble. You can get hurt" but people die in plane crashes" lose their arms and legs in car accidents, people die every day. 'ame with fighters6 some die" some get hurt" some go on. You +ust don't let yourself believe it will happen to you. )ove is a net that catches hearts like a fish. 4y toughest fight was with my first wife. 4y way of +oking is to tell the truth. #hat's the funniest +oke in the world.

/o one knows what to say in the loser's locker room. 7ld age is +ust a record of one's whole life. 7nly 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. 7nly the nose knows" (here the nose goes" (hen the door close. People don't reali%e what they had till it's gone. )ike President 1ennedy ! nobody like him. )ike #he Beatles" there will never be anything like them. )ike my man" 8lvis Presley ! I was the 8lvis of boxing. Pre+udice comes from being in the dark, sunlight disinfects it. 9ivers" ponds" lakes and streams ! they all have different names" but they all contained water. -ust as religions do ! they all contain truths. 'ervice to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. 'ilence is golden when you can't think of a good answer. 'uperman don't need no seat belt. #he 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. #he man who has no imagination has no wings. #he man who views the world at :; the same as he did at <; has wasted =; years of his life. #here are more pleasant things to do than beat up people. #here are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win. #o be able to give away riches is mandatory if you wish to possess them. #his is the only way that you will be truly rich. (ars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change. (e have one life, it soon will be past, what we do for 5od is all that will last. (hat keeps me going is goals. (hen you are as great as I am it is hard to be humble. (hen you can whip any man in the world" you never know peace.