“Many people fail not so much because of their mistakes; they fail because they are afraid to try.”

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

I get up in the morning looking for an adventure.

The Internal Revenue Service is the real undefeated heavyweight champion.

Choose wise and Godly people to advise you.

That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.

If you can maintain that integrity in whatever you do, you can’t go wrong.

I didn’t come back for the money. I just got sick of beating people up for free.

You live and learn. Then you die and forget it all.

When I was a kid in Houston, we were so poor we couldn’t afford the last 2 letters, so we called ourselves po’.

In boxing, I had a lot of fear. Fear was good. But, for the first time, in the bout with Muhammad Ali, I didn’t have any fear. I thought, “This is easy. This is what I’ve been waiting for”. No fear at all. No nervousness. And I lost.

If you want it, leave your excuses behind and come and get it.

It embarrasses me to think of all those years I was buying silk suits and alligator shoes that were hurting my feet; cars that I just parked, and the dust would just build up on them.

I know from experience that you should never give up on yourself or others, no matter what.

They say I don’t fight guys unless they’re on a respirator. That’s incorrect. They have to be at least 3 days off a respirator.

I’m working for the Lord, and even though the Lord’s pay isn’t very high, his retirement program is.

There ain’t nothing like being in the corner, and the trainer is whispering in your ear and another guy is putting in your mouthpiece. Five seconds to go, the boom! The bell. It’s more exciting than looking down a cliff.

What keeps so many people back is simply unwillingness to pay the price, to make the exertion, the effort to sacrifice their ease and comfort.

Put the uncommon effort into the common task… make it large by doing it in a great way.

It’s nice to always make an effort when you get photographed.

Go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.

Meditation does not mean just sitting quietly for five or ten minutes. It requires conscious effort. The mind has to be made calm and quiet; at the same time, it has to be vigilant so as not to allow any distracting thoughts or desires to enter.

It is not merely enough to have the ability to be persistant, you must also have the ability to start over.

It is in solitude that we discover that being is more important than having and that we are worth more than the results of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended but a gift to be shared.

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.