Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything. ››I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' ››Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything. ››I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick. ››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. ››The 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. ››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. ››A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life. ››People don't realize what they had till it's gone. Like President Kennedy, there was no one like him, the Beatles, and my man Elvis Presley. I was the Elvis of boxing. ››It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. ››Only 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. ››Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong. ››I'm the most recognized and loved man that ever lived cuz there weren't no satellites when Jesus and Moses were around, so people far away in the villages didn't know about them. ››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. ››My trainer don't tell me nothing between rounds. I don't allow him to. I fight the fight. All I want to know is did I win the round. It's too late for advice. ››Life 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. Same with fighters: some die, some get hurt, some go on. You just don't let yourself believe it will happen to you. ››Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can't talk. The man can't fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he's gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons. ››I am an ordinary man who worked hard to develop the talent I was given. I believed in myself, and I believe in the goodness of others. ››
