Boxing legend.

Humanitarian.

Revolutionary.

The man with the lightning feet, the thunderbolt punch, and the razor sharp tongue.

He who gave us the Fight of The Century, the Rumble in The Jungle and the Thrilla in Manila.

A man who stood up to be counted in his steadfast and unwavering refusal to take part in the Vietnam war.

From loudmouth, to hero to villain and back again as the most recognizable athlete of the 20th century.

This is merely the surface of the man they called Muhammad Ali.

Even just as a dominant force of nature in the ring, Ali would have been an icon as the greatest fighter of all time.

But when you factor in his stand on racial prejudices, his lifelong fight against religious discrimination, his contributions to Parkinson’s research, the Make-a-Wish-Foundation and the Special Olympics, his advocating of laws to help protect children and his gargantuan tussle against the US government, then you realize that this is a man who transcends the sport and is indeed a cultural icon like no other.

Much has been written about Ali in the last few days, following his passing.

There is little I can add to that.

The man was larger than life, louder than thunder and faster than lightning.

He was one of the most recognised men on the planet.

And he earned every single ounce of everything he had by sheer determination, perpetual hard work and an imagination like no other.

Fleet of foot, fist and mind, the Louisville Lip never failed to deliver.

Thank you Muhammad Ali – for the thrills, the chills, the laughter and the tears, and all the moments with which you marked your lifetime and ours.

This is what inspiration is made of.

You will never be forgotten.

Always and forever, The Greatest.

 

And of course, here are some of the most memorable quotes that showcase Ali’s eloquence, razor sharp wit, and his flair for entertainment, truth and teaching.

 

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“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 thinks he will, but I know he won’t.

 

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“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

 

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“I’m young; I’m handsome; I’m fast. I can’t possibly be beat.”

 

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“Don’t count the days; make the days count.”

 

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

 

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“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. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

 

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“I shook up the world!”

—After beating favored Sonny Liston to take the heavyweight title in 1964

 

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“Nobody has to tell me that this is a serious business. I’m not fighting one man. I’m fighting a lot of men, showing a lot of ’em, here is one man they couldn’t defeat, couldn’t conquer. My mission is to bring freedom to 30 million black people.”

—Before his return to the ring in 1970 after a 3½-year exile

 

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“I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong….No Vietcong ever called me n—–.”

—Explaining why he refused induction into the Army in 1967

 

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“Will they ever have another fighter who writes poems, predicts rounds, beats everybody, makes people laugh, makes people cry and is as tall and extra pretty as me?”

—To biographer Thomas Hauser after retirement in 1981

 

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