The boxing champ as poet–and rapper
ALI. Streetwise “Ali-terations.”
MUHAMMAD Ali’s recent death was mourned by millions—but it also served to remind them of his exceptional life and achievement. An unexpected “retroactive reminder” was the realization that he wasn’t just a champion boxer, he was a streetwise poet as well—one of the world’s first rappers, in fact! Some unforgettable “Ali-terations”:
“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.”
“If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it!”
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
“To be a great champion, you must believe you are the best, If you’re not, pretend you are.”
“What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming.”
“A man with no imagination has no wings.”
“Live every day as if it were your last—because someday you’re going to be right!”
“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
“The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
“Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down—it’s staying down that’s wrong.”
“The man who views the world at 50 the same way as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”
“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.”
“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am.”
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. It doesn’t matter which color does the hating, it’s just wrong.”
“I’m a fighter—I got no respect for a man who won’t hit back. You kill my dog, better hide your cat.”
“Champions aren’t made in gyms, they are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will—but, the will must be stronger than the skill.”
“Often it isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out—it’s the little pebble in your shoe.”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!”
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
“You lose nothing when you fight for a cause—the losers are those who don’t have a cause they care about.”
“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, hospitalized a brick.”
“I’m so mean, I make medicine sick!”
