Muhammad Ali, a true leader

We’re still reeling over the death of boxing icon Muhammad Ali on June 3rd at age 74, after a long and tough battle with Parkinson’s disease. Ali’s legacy will undoubtedly live on, not only as an incredible boxer, but as an activist and leader too. President Obama wrote an incredibly heart wrenching farewell, reminding the world just how important Muhammad Ali was in so many different ways. “Muhammad Ali shook up the world.  And the world is better for it.  We are all better for it.”

There are many things that made Muhammad Ali the man he was, but one of the most significant was his self-belief. He was the greatest, a title bestowed upon him which he happily took on. If anyone were to forget it, he would remind them. As a boxer this is not so rare, but his confidence bled out into his everyday life, and allowed him to be the social activist and speaker he was.

We’ve rounded up some of our favourite Muhammad Ali quotes to inspire you to be the best person you possibly can.

• “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
• “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”
• “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”
• “I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.”
• “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

Ali’s funeral has been scheduled for this Friday in his hometown of Louisville, and his family have said it’s open to the whole world, so we can mourn this great man together.