19 of Muhammad Ali's most memorable quotes

The only thing faster than Muhammad Ali's hands and feet, was his tongue.

For all his impact inside the ring, Ali's work outside it was arguably more important. He was a strong voice against racial and class prejudice and systemic injustice in a time where there were too few willing to stand up.

His gift for words equaled his artistry as a fighter, so here are 19 of the three-time heavyweight champion's best quotes in no particular order:

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. George thinks he will, but I know he won't.

"It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am."

"Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong."

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?"

"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest."

"Don't count the days; make the days count."

"Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head."

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."

"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."

"There's not a man alive who can whoop me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That’s the only way I'll ever get licked."

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'"

"Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it and I don't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God, and I insist people use it when people speak to me and of me."

"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."

"I'm not the greatest, I'm the double greatest."

"Life is short; we get old so fast. It doesn't make sense to waste time on hating."