“As a child I was sometimes so hungry that I used to dream that one day I’d get locked in a grocery store.”

If you can look in your mother’s eyes and she’s proud of you, then you’re a champion.

All I’ve ever tried to tell anyone is that I’m not a black man or a white man or anything else. All I’ve ever been was an American.

A boxer never sees the big one that hits him.

Anybody going into boxing already has brain damage.

People are hurt in love affairs and never recover, more than a boxing match.

We, too, need to be patient, especially when it comes to reaching new goals.

I am a winner each and every time I go into the ring.

Today the biggest decisions I make aren’t related to the heavyweight title. They are whether I visit McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, or Jack-in-the-Box.

I respect that you want to protect your niece. You know, I didn’t want my daughter to become a boxer. Neither did Mohammad. But Joe Frazier, on the other hand, he had his baby girl boxing in the crib.

I think its so good for boxing when a new guy or new blood as we call it, makes a big statement.

Heroes have a rough time because they stand up when they ought not to, they speak when they ought not to; they always have to go that extra mile.

Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.

Anytime I can sneak in a moment to fish and ride horses, I’m a happy camper!

A hero is someone right who doesn’t change.

My whole family likes to play basketball. George II plays for his high school team and George III and George IV and George V are going to be good players. One day we’re going to have a team and call it Georgetown.

If you don’t dream, you might as well be dead.

Past certain ages or certain wisdoms it is very difficult to look with wonder; it is best done when one is a child; after that, and if you are lucky, you will find a bridge of childhood and walk across it.

I like skiing and surfing with kids. They are the cutest little skiers out there, in their little outfits. I just want to eat ’em up!

All through the depression, I was the soft toy in the hands of a baby with sharp teeth.

Yet they that know all things but know That all this life can give us is, A child’s laughter, a woman’s kiss.

He who can reach a child’s heart can reach the worlds heart.

Gospel music was the thing that inspired me as a child growing up on a cotton farm, where work was drudgery and it was so hard that when I was in the field I sang all the time.

I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free.

Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.