God will not place a burden on a man's shoulders knowing that he cannot carry it.

Parkinson's is my toughest fight. No, it doesn't hurt. It's hard to explain. I'm being tested to see if I'll keep praying, to see if I'll keep my faith. All great people are tested by God.

The sun is always shining someplace.

I came back to Louisville after the Olympics with my shiny gold medal. Went into a luncheonette where black folks couldn't eat. Thought I'd put them on the spot. I sat down and asked for a meal. The Olympic champion wearing his gold medal. They said, "We don't serve niggers here." I said, "That's okay, I don't eat 'em." But they put me out in the street. So I went down to the river, the Ohio River, and threw my gold medal in it.

Since that day, things in America have changed 100 percent.

When you're right, nobody remembers. When you're wrong, nobody forgets.

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

We have one life / It soon will be past / What we do for God / Is all that will last.

Goodness? My mother.

When your mother dies, it really hurts. But with time, you get used to it. That's nature's way.

My definition of evil is unfriendliness.

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.

Comedy is a funny way of being serious. My way of joking is to tell the truth. That's the funniest joke in the world.

It's possible for the heavyweight champion of the world to be with one woman.

Love is a net that catches hearts like fish.

Rubble is trouble.

The more we help others, the more we help ourselves.

I like Joe.

Watching George come back to win the title got me all excited. Made me want to come back. But then the next morning came, and it was time to start running. I lay back in bed and said, "That's okay, I'm still the Greatest."

If I could meet anybody? The prophet Muhammad.

What you are thinking about, you are becoming.

I'm most proud of my family.

Enjoy your children, even when they don't act the way you want them to.

Lighting that torch in Atlanta didn't make me nervous. Standing up to the government — that made me nervous.

Wisdom is knowing when you can't be wise.

The one thing I don't understand is war.

Brooding over blunders is the biggest blunder.

I'd like to live to a hundred.

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

Originally published in the January 2004 issue

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