"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was."

"I'm a Muslim and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm a black man in America. I want justice and equality. I want what's rightfully mine."

"Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it and I don't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name – it means 'beloved of God,' and I insist that people use it when they speak to me and of me."

"My toughest opponent was 'myself'. I always had to be the greatest."

"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail. You know I'm bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized …"