26 Best Muhammad Ali Quotes

Muhammad Ali is considered as one of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport. And as good as his skills were in the ring, one could argue his skills with words was even better.

Ali's larger-than-life personality and boxing legacy will live on across generations, as will some of his most famous quips, quotes, and sayings. From wisdom and motivation to humor and more, here's 26 of Muhammad Ali's best quotes.

In no particular order, but starting off with what is perhaps his most famous.

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

2. “It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am."

3. "I'm so mean, I make medicine sick."

4. "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."

5. “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it.”

6. "He’s too ugly to be the world champ. The world champ should be pretty like me!" (on Sonny Liston)

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

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

9. "Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong."

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

11. "It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you down. It's the pebble in your shoe."

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

Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston | IMAGO / TT

13. “I’ve wrestled with alligators. I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning. And throw thunder in jail.”

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

15. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

16. “Inside or a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.”

17. “To be able to give away riches is mandatory if you wish to possess them. This is the only way that you will be truly rich.”

18. "I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked."

19. "A man who has no imagination has no wings."

20. "I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own."

21. “I’m not the greatest, I’m the double greatest.”

22. “I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.”

23. “You lose nothing when you fight for a cause… In my mind the losers are those who don’t have a cause they care about.”

24. “Rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as all religions do – they all contain truths.”

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

26. "Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”

MORE: On This Day: Muhammad Ali Beats Sonny Liston To Become The Heavyweight Champion - February 25, 1964