Happy Birthday to Muhammad Ali

I’m a classic case of a people person.  I generally love all people, BUT there are some that I’m more drawn to than others.  My all-time favorite authors (Dean Koontz, Mark Twain, Mitch Albom, Maya Angelou, Agatha Christie), my all-time favorite athletes (Allen Iverson, John Daly, Tony Stewart, Muhammad Ali, Charles Barkley, Flo Jo, Mark McGwire) my all-time favorite actors (Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Eddie Murphy, Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, Winona Ryder, George Clooney) - most of them are a few steps to the right or the left of the beaten track.  Who am I kidding, my athletes aren’t even aware there is a track.  Flo Jo may have ran on a track, but make no mistake about it - she was the star, not it.

This is the personality I’m drawn to. The colorful, vibrant, controversial-if-need-be, living out loud, and often in your face type of person.  The kind you’d never have to feel for a pulse, because you can hear and see it beating from a mile away!  You won’t, for crying out loud, agree with everything they say or do.  Sometimes they’ll leave you shaking your head, other times they’ll leave you scratching your head.  But they always find a way to get inside your head. 

Muhammad Ali fits this bill beautifully.  Have you ever stopped to think about the stands this man took and the time in which he took them?  Brass, baby, pure brass.

Today is Mr. Ali’s  65th birthday and I thought the perfect way to honor him would be to showcase some of his most amazing quotes.  He was a force in the ring, to be sure - but he’s an even bigger force out of the ring.  Below are some of my favorite quotes from the pride of Louisville, Kentucky (and all of America, for that matter):  Mr. Muhammad Ali:

A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.

Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wild Life.

Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin’ hell, but as long as they ain’t free, I ain’t free.

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.

I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.

I’ll beat him so bad he’ll need a shoehorn to put his hat on.

I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest. Not only do I knock ‘em out, I pick the round.

I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.

If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.

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

It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am.If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize. It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.

It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.

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

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.

Superman don’t need no seat belt.

Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.

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.

There are no pleasures in a fight but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ”Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

Happy birthday to The Louisville lip!