In his life, Muhammad Ali taunted opponents with razor-sharp rhymes and comical one-liners.

Wednesday, January 17 would have been his 76th birthday.

Here are his most famous quotes on achievement, social justice, religion and war.

On Boxing

Ali, before a fight with Sonny Liston in 1964.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Rumble, young man, rumble."

Ali after beating Liston.

"I'm king of the world! I'm pretty! I'm a bad man! I shook up the world! I shook up the world! I shook up the world!"

After his match against George Foreman, known as the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.

"I've wrestled with alligators, I've tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning. And throw thunder in jail. You know I'm bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick. I'm so mean, I make medicine sick."

Ali at a news conference to announce a comic book in which he beats Superman.

"All I can do is fight for truth and justice. I can't save anybody. He's a science fiction character, and I'm a real character."

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Rumble, young man, rumble Muhammad Ali

Happy birthday to the The Greatest! Here is Muhammad Ali in his own words.https://t.co/cqE5dBVI3u — AJ+ (@ajplus) January 18, 2018

On Success

Ali at a news conference on October 28, 1984.

"What I suffered physically was worth what I've accomplished in life. A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life."

"It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am".

Ali to heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson during the 1960 Olympic Games.

"Hey Floyd - I seen you! Someday I'm gonna whup you! Don't you forget, I am the greatest!"

A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life Muhammad Ali

On war

Muhammad Ali spoke boldly against the war in Vietnam and refused conscription into the army. This is Ali's famous explanation of why he refused to serve in the United States Army.

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?" Ali, February, 17, 1966.

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam" Muhammad Ali

On racism and Islam

Muhammad Ali was an outspoken Muslim convert, and he became the unofficial spokesman for millions of blacks and oppressed people around the world. In Seattle for a benefit for Sugar Ray Seales, he famously said:

"People say I talk so slow today. That's no surprise. I calculated I've taken 29,000 punches. But I earned $57m and I saved half of it. So I took a few hard knocks. Do you know how many black men are killed every year by guns and knives without a penny to their names? I may talk slow, but my mind is OK."

Ali at a church in 1983.

"Why are all the angels white? Why ain't there no black angels?"

"My name is known in Serbia, Pakistan, Morocco. These are countries that don't follow the Kentucky Derby." - Ali in a New York Times interview, April 1977.

Since the Paris attacks, Muhammad Ali spoke out against the incrimination of Islam with ISIL attacks.

"I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion." - Ali, 2015.

Why are all the angels white? Why ain't there no black angels? Muhammad Ali



