Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.

He would separate his mind from his body and then visualize the future.

Discipline is the fuel of achievement.

You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning. But fear is your best friend. Fear is like fire. If you learn to control it, you let it work for you. If you don’t learn to control it, it’ll destroy you and everything around you.

The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself.

The difference between a successful person and others is not lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

I intend to fight and I want to win. But my priorities are basically to be a good brother and a strong one, and to try to be a good father one day.

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

I was hoping he would get up so I could hit him again and keep him down.

Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.

I am not the same person I was when I bit that guy’s ear off.

I don’t try to intimidate anybody before a fight. That’s nonsense. I intimidate people by hitting them.

Being a champion opens lots of doors—I’d like to get a real estate license, maybe sell insurance.

It’s not much for talking. You know what I do. I put guys in body bags when I’m right.

There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That’s okay. Just spell my name right.

Most fighters are the most humble people in the world because they’ve gotten their ass kicked before.

At times, I come across as crude or crass, that irritates you when I come across like a Neanderthal or a babbling idiot at times. But I like to be that person. I like to show you all that person because that’s who you come to see.

Fighting is a sport if you’re not humble it’s going to bring humbleness to you.

Fear is your best friend or your worst enemy. It’s like fire. If you can control it, it can cook for you; it can heat your house. If you can’t control it, it will burn everything around you and destroy you.

I try to catch them right on the tip of his nose, because I try to punch the bone into the brain.

I can talk about humility, but I’m not humble. I mean, if you say, ‘I’m humble,’ you’ve just contradicted yourself.

Every win, regardless a good or bad one, gives you more confidence.

Fighting is not physical, fighting is spiritual. It’s the determination and the will in the guy.

I just want to do what I do best, and that’s fight, I love it.

Quayle said the worst thing that happened to him was that he never trusted his own judgment. I said from now on I am going to go with my own judgment.

I’ll go back and take what people owe me.

I can inspire people on how to use money, how to get economically powerful.

You stand your ground and you perform your art. That’s what the artist does. The artist is about perfection.

Mr. Arthur Ashe, he was good. I read some of his books. He knew about everything, but he was real quiet and didn’t talk much. I never met him.

In order to succeed greatly, you have to be prepared to fail greatly. If you can’t do both of them, you’ve got a problem.

I did my time for the rape. I paid my money to Las Vegas. I paid my dues.

I’m scared every time I go into the ring. But it’s how you handle it. What you have to do is plant your feet, bite down to your mouthpiece and say, let’s go.

There’s nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear is an illusion. If you’re gonna die, you’re gonna die anyway; it’s not something to fear, fear is not gonna help.

I’m just happy I’m not a phony.

One must never allow fear to develop and build up without having control over it because if you don’t, you won’t be able to achieve your objective or save your life.

God lets everything happen for a reason. It’s all a learning process, and you have to go from one level to another.

You can’t stay married in a situation where you are afraid to go to sleep in case your wife might cut your throat.

Sometimes I put on a ski mask and dress in old clothes, go out on the streets and beg for quarters.

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s just a cycle.

I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.

In America, we’re really good at blowing things up but not so good in knowing where the pieces will land.

I think the reality of prison is you don’t get anything unless you want it in there. Whatever happens to you in prison, this is what you asked for. Nothing happens to you if you don’t give that vibe.

We wanna believe that we’re different than the average guy that’s working 9-to-5, that our thoughts are different than his. Our inspirations and desires are different than his, that’s why we succeed and he didn’t cos we wanna believe we’re different, but he just didn’t get the break that we had…or he wasted it on something else.

I’m not Mother Teresa, but I’m not Charles Manson, either.

It’s good to be successful and have financial status but if you’re only gonna live for the money, you’re only gonna reach a certain status and I’m in there for greatness and peace of mind.

I’m a Muslim, but I think Jesus would have a drink with me. He would be cool. He would talk to me.

Unfortunately, sometimes you can’t have fun accomplishing your goals. Sometimes people don’t have the determination, the will, the steadfastness, the tenacity, they give in under the slightest struggle.

When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap–people shouldn’t read that stuff.

If they don’t have that extreme addict personality, you can never understand how a guy can blow 300 or 400 million dollars. If I have to live at the top of the world, I also have to live at the bottom of the ocean. I don’t know how to live in the middle of life.

Social media made you all too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.

I’m sorry I let everybody down, I’m fighting just to pay my bills. I don’t have the stomach for this anymore… I don’t have the desire for it. I feel bad for the people… I wish they could get their money back.

That’s what people respect, the fact that I wasn’t a chump that laid on his back and gave up.

The tempt for greatness is the biggest drug in the world.

We live in a society where we basically live and strive on what people think about us. We’re more visual people so what we see is basically what we believe which is not necessarily true.

There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes, just don’t make the same ones. We don’t want to duplicate them.

It doesn’t faze me what anyone says about me. It doesn’t matter what anyone says about me. I’m a totally different entity to what other people think. Michael and Tyson are two different people. I’m Tyson here.

We all have struggles in life but we have to continue to fight.

I can quit boxing now and practically go into any kind of business and I’ll be successful just as well as I was in boxing.

The only thing I do is just pray for inspiration, for a way of thinking, because I don’t have any particular goal in sight.

It’s interesting that you put me in the league with those illustrious fighters [Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jack Johnson], but I’ve proved since my career I’ve surpassed them as far my popularity. I’m the biggest fighter in the history of the sport. If you don’t believe it, check the cash register.

You need to learn independence. You have to be independent—it builds character.

Whatever you want, especially when you’re striving to be the best in the world at something, there’ll always be disappointments, and you can’t be emotionally tied to them, cos’ they’ll break your spirit.

I am a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.

You can’t be disturbed by anything. There’s no emotion involved. You can’t feel sorrow, you can’t feel pity, there’s nothing you feel. The job has to be done.

As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want.

I was gonna rip his heart out. I’m the best ever. I’m the most brutal and vicious, the most ruthless champion there has ever been. No one can stop me. Lennox is a conqueror? No! He’s no Alexander! I’m Alexander! I’m the best ever. I’m Sonny Liston. I’m Jack Dempsey. There’s never been anyone like me. I’m from their cloth. There is no one who can match me. My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I’m the ferocious. I want his heart! I want to eat his children! Praise be to Allah!

You never lose until you actually give up.

I had to persevere because this was my life. This championship, this was the stuff I dreamt of all my life, and I wasn’t gonna be denied.

I don’t know, man, I guess I’m gonna fade into Bolivian.

Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle, and an end. It’s just a cycle.

Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.

I’ll fight anybody my trainer puts me in with because I’m confident I can beat any fighter in the world. If anybody can see I’m almost a master at evading punches coming at me.

I don’t understand why people would want to get rid of pigeons. They don’t bother no one.

One morning I woke up and found my favorite pigeon, Julius, had died. I was devastated and was gonna use his crate as my stickball bat to honor him. I left the crate on my stoop and went in to get something and I returned to see the sanitation man put the crate into the crusher. I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand and he was out cold, convulsing on the floor.

I’m the best ever. I’m the most brutal and vicious, and most ruthless champion there’s ever been. There’s no one can stop me. Lennox is a conqueror? No, I’m Alexander, he’s no Alexander. I’m the best ever! There’s never been anybody as ruthless! I’m Sonny Liston, I’m Jack Dempsey. There’s no one like me. I’m from their cloth. There’s no one that can match me. My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. I want your heart! I want to eat his children! Praise be to Allah!

Y’all guys know what I do…I put people in body bags

It’s good to know how to read, but it’s dangerous to know how to read and not know how to interpret what you’re reading

These pigeons have been living with each other for 10 or 15 years, but when I throw feed down, they kill each other to get it, and it’s the same with the fighters. We love and respect each other…but we need that money

I just have this thing inside me that wants to eat and conquer. Maybe it’s egotistical, but I have it in me. I don’t want to be a tycoon. I just want to conquer people and their souls.

One of my friends once saw another guy’s (criminal) record and said, ‘Look, this guy is a born troublemaker, just a loser.’ I had to tell him, ‘No, that’s my record—and it doesn’t include my juvenile history.

A man that is friend to everyone is an enemy to himself.

I’m gonna make sure you talk about me, and your grandkids and kids after that gonna know about me…your great grandkids will say “wow, wasn’t that a bizarre individual?

I’m addicted to perfection. Problem with my life is I was always also addicted to chaos. Perfect chaos.

My power is discombobulating devastating. I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It’s ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm.

Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people; greatness is being accepted by the people.

These books ain’t window dressing. I think Machiavelli’s the most sophisticated writer outside of Shakespeare. Way ahead of his time. Such a manipulative person. Everything he accomplished he did by kissin’ ass.

Discipline, doing what you hate to do but do it like you love it.

Everybody you fight is not your enemy and everybody who helps you is not your friend.

When you have something in life that you want to accomplish greatly, you have to be willing to give up your happiness…I’ve lost all my sensitivity as far as being embarrassed, being shy, you just have to lose that.

Real freedom is having nothing. I was freer when I didn’t have a cent.

My main objective in the fight is to be a professional but to kill him.

When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.

I may like, fornicate more than other people, it’s just who I am. I sacrifice so much of my life, can I at least get laid, you know what I mean? I’ve been robbed of most of my money, can I at least get a blow job?

I love to hit people. I love to. Most celebrities are afraid someone’s going to attack them. I want someone to attack me. No weapons. Just me and him. I like to beat men and beat them bad.

Everyone says “I wish I was in your shoes”, the hundreds of people that wish they were in my shoes don’t know the tenth of it. If they were in my shoes they would cry like a baby.

At one point, I thought life was about acquiring things. But as I get older, life is totally about losing everything

Anger is your worst enemy in life.

Everybody thinks this is a tough man’s sport. This is not a tough man’s sport. This is a thinking man’s sport. A tough man is gonna get hurt real bad in this sport.

I wish one of you guys had children, so I could kick them in their fucking head or stomp on their testicles so you could feel my pain, because that’s the pain I have waking up every day.

I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.