Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
Muhammad Ali
- Life
- 1942-2016
- Occupations
- boxer, autobiographer, activist
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
Ali authored his own legend in press conferences, and the great lines are on tape: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee' (coined with cornerman Drew Bundini Brown), 'I am the greatest -- I said that even before I knew I was.' Unusually, the shortest quote attributed to him -- the two-word Harvard 'poem' 'Me. We.' -- is disputed, with contemporary accounts differing on whether it happened.
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
Muhammad Ali
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
Muhammad Ali
The man who has no imagination has no wings.
Muhammad Ali
The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
Muhammad Ali