• “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see. Now you see me, now you don’t. George (Foreman) thinks he will, but I know he won’t.”

• “It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.”

• “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.”

• “Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beating each other up.”

• “It will be a killer and a chiller and a thriller when I get the gorilla in Manila.”

• “Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it, and I didn’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name, and I insist people using it when speaking to me and of me.”

• “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”

• “You think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned? Wait till I whup George Foreman’s behind.”

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

• “My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.”

• “I ain’t draft dodging. I ain’t burning no flag. I ain’t running to Canada. I’m staying right here. You want to send me to jail? Fine, you go right ahead. I’ve been in jail for 400 years. I could be there for 4 or 5 more, but I ain’t going no 10,000 miles to help murder and kill other poor people. If I want to die, I’ll die right here, right now, fightin’ you, if I want to die.

• “Live every day like it’s your last because someday you’re going to be right.”