Muhammad Ali – “Black and Pretty”

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see, rumble young man, rumble!”

I’m writing this while watching the multi faith funeral of Muhammad Ali live on television. We all know him through boxing, his rhymes, his poetry, his boldness (some may say arrogance), his highs, his lows, his triumphs and failures. We all feel like we knew Muhammad Ali. Transcending sport, a black man, civil rights activist and philanthropist.

Ali in Ghana in 1964

Born a black boy in Louisville Kentucky at a time when black people in America were considered to be 3/5^th of a human and no right to vote.

I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize, but get used to me. Black, confident, cocky — my name, not yours. My religion, not yours. My goals, my own. Get used to me.

Ali punched his way out of poverty, travelled the world and on the way ‘got back to his roots’ as he, an African-American embraced Africa.

BOX-DRCONGO-ALI-FOREMAN-RUMBLE — Ali and his mother Odetta Lee Clay during a training session three days before the “Rumble in the Jungle” fight vs George Foreman (1974). (Photo /AFP/Getty Images)

#Alibomaye: Rumble in the Jungle – Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

#Alibomaye: Rumble in the Jungle 1975 – Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Muhammad Ali before the fight The Rumble In The Jungle, Zaire, 1B&W

ali zaire car

Ali is a symbol of inspiration and hope, but also a picture of a boxer who boxed too long. Probably because of money and all the people who relied on him.

Parkinson’s disease – It’s been widely believed that Ali’s illness was linked to some of the injuries he suffered from his prolonged career. But in true Ali form, he didn’t let that define him.

A positive was that he brought the neurological disease to the forefront, a need for a cure.

“God gave me this illness to remind me that I’m not number One. He is.”

ali and mlk

The world will always remember The Greatest bBoxer Of All Time (#GOAT), for the champ he really was – inside and outside the ring. Ali wasn’t perfect but he made a difference.

“If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologise!”

“I’ve wrestled with alligators,
I’ve tussled with a whale.
I done handcuffed lightning
And throw thunder in jail.
You know I’m bad.
Just last week, I murdered a rock,
Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick.
I’m so mean, I make medicine sick.”

#AliBomaye

Pictures: Google, Getty

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#MondayMotivation – The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt

Another start to the week with quotes that inspire, motivate and challenge!

“In Africa today, we recognise that trade and investment, and not aid, are pillars of development.” – Paul kagame; president of Rwanda, October 1957 – present

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison; America novelist, 1931 – present

“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were, and say, ‘Why not?” – George Bernard Shaw; Irish Playwright, 1856 – 1950

nelson mandela poverty

“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” – Will Rogers; American cowboy and newspaper columnist 1879 – 1935

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln

“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.” – Maya Angelou; American author and poet; 1928–2014

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath; American poet, 1932 – 1963

“Life is like riding a bicycle. Your keep your balance, you must keep moving” – Albert Einstein

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#MondayMotivation: The question isn”t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me!

Famous quotes to inspire, challenge and motivate.

“Whatever you do, do it with intelligence, and keep the end in view.” – Thomas à Kempis; German Theologian 1380 –1471

“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences.” – Robert Ingersoll, American political leader; 1833–1899

“Some people believe that holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go — and then do it.” –Ann Landers American advice columnist 1918 –2002

“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.” – Emanuel James “Jim” Rohn; American entrepreneur 1930 – 2009

“Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself unreservedly to it.” – James Allen; British Philosophical writer 1864-1912

“Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.” – Margaret Bonanno; American author, 1950-present

“Defeat should never be a source of discouragement but rather a fresh stimulus.” – Robert South; Preacher 1634 –1716

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#MondayMotivation: You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down #QuotesOfTheDay

Famous quotes to inspire, challenge and motivate.

“None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.” – Pearl S. Buck; American novelist, 1892 – 1973

“Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.” Henry Ward Beecher;

American clergyman and lecturer, 1813 –1887

“How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.” – Benjamin Disraeli; former British Prime Minister, 1804 – 1881

“I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” – Winston Churchill; former British prime minister, 1874– 1965

“Look to the future, because that’s where you’ll spend the rest of your life.” – George Burns; American comedian; 1896 –1996

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S Lewis; Irish writer / theologian, 1898 –1963

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929–1968

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.” –

Steve Jobs; Co-founder of Apple, 1955 – 2011

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#MondayMotivation: “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent a night with a mosquito.”

It’s always good to start the week with a positive mind, so here are my top 10 inspirational quotes for the week. Always a good read; motivational quotes from famous people past and present, to challenge and inspire.

“Persist – don’t take no for an answer. If you’re happy to sit at your desk and not take any risk, you’ll be sitting at your desk for the next 20 years.” – David Rubenstein

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

“With God your best moments will often follow the worst times.” – Word 4 Today

“When all else is lost, the future still remains.” – Christian Nestell Bovee; American writer; 1904–1820

“How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks.” Marcus Aurelius; Roman emperor, 121 AD – 180 AD

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell

“You are unique, and if that is not fulfilled, then something has been lost.” – Martha Graham; American dancer and choreographer, 1894 –1991

“A cold in the head causes less suffering than an idea.” – Jules Renard; French writer; 1864 –1910

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” – Christopher Reeve; Actor, 1952 – 2004

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#Quotes #MondayMotivation: #Optimism is essential to #achievement and the foundation of courage and true #progress

Another Monday and some more inspirational quotes, motivational quotes to keep up the positive thinking and maintain a positive mindset.

“If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.” – Chinua Achebe; Novelist, poet & professor, 1930-2013

“How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.” – Benjamin Disraeli; former British Prime Minister, 1804 – 1881

“There are people who have money, and there are people who are rich.” – Coco Chanel; Fashion Designer, 1883-1971

“It’s not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It’s the customer who pays the wages.” – Henry Ford; founder of Ford Motor Company, 1863-1947

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” – Maya Angelo; American author and poet, 4th April 1928 – 28th May 2014

“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.” – Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar, American author & motivational speaker, 1926-2012

“Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.” Nicholas Murray Butler; American philosopher & educator, 1862–1947)

“Success and failure, we think of them as opposites, but they’re really not. They’re companions — the hero and the sidekick.” – Laurence Shames; American writer, 1951 – present

“To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.” – William H. Walton

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” – Tom Peters; American business writer; 1942 – present

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#Quotes #MondayMotivation: Loss is nothing else but #change, and change is Nature’s delight

Motivational quotes are always a good way to start the week, so here are quotes to inspire, challenge and motivate. we all need some inspiration, so these famous quotes for life are here to do just that!

“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.” – Judy Garland;

American Actress, 1922 –1969

“Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight.” – Marcus Aurelius;

Roman emperor 121 AD – 17 March 180 AD

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates; Former Microsoft CEO; philanthropist

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein; Physicist, 1879-1955

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.” – Carl Rogers; American psychologist, 1902 – February 4, 1987

“Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” – Richard Bach; American writer, 1936-present

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell; American newspaper commentator, 1897–1972

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get ahead are those who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them.” – George Bernard Shaw; Irish playwright/ co-founder of London School of Economics, 1856–1950

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci; Painter, musician, scientist, 1452-1519

“I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” – Harriet Tubman; African-American abolitionist, 1820 –1913

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“If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.” – Chinua Achebe; Novelist, poet & professor, 1930-2013

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