Photograph by Flip Schulke
Muhammad Ali is a favorite hero here at FinerMinds, as we are also among the millions who admire the strength and confidence of The Greatest. Not many athtletes have managed to motivate beyond his sport or generation, but this legendary boxer has inspired everyone then and now with his spirit, his charisma and ultimately – his motivational speeches.
Impossible, to us, is a dirty word. We believe that dreams are possible and that goals can be met. If we don’t happen to meet them, then as long as we have tried hard to inch close enough to smell victory, we know it’s worth getting up, dusting ourselves off and giving it another go. If you’ve never failed, then you’ve never lived!
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.”
- Muhammad Ali
We found one of many videos that sums up Muhammad Ali’s philosophy above and showcases his resistance to giving up. It was a speech he gave before his second fight with his biggest rival then – Joe Frazier, in 1974 (see below for the video). The fight may have been one of the least significant fights of their rivalry, but it proved Ali’s determination to rise again and show “how great I am!” to his contender, after his loss to Frazier in the infamous Fight of The Century in 1971, the first defeat in Ali’s career.
After all, “life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man; but soon or late the man who wins is the one who thinks he can.” This one’s from poet Walter D. Wintle in 1965 ;)
So let’s take impossible to the ring and knock it down to “I’m possible”!
What quotes by Muhammad Ali or other icons get you going in your battles? Share them with us; we love great quotes by great people!
