Mike Tyson is one of the most famous sports
personalities the world has ever known.
Renowned for his ferociousness inside the
ring and his crazy antics outside, he brought
the kind of attention to boxing that hasn’t
existed since.
He has so many quotables, but here 30 of the
greatest Mike Tyson quotes.
1) “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. ”
2) “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. ”
3) “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. ”
4) “Discipline, doing what you hate to do but do it like
you love it.”
5) “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 .”
6) “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? ”
7) “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. ”
“Y’all guys know what I do…I put people in body
bags.”
9) “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. ”
10) “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. ”
11) “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. ”
12) “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! ”
13) “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. ”
14) “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. ”
15) “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. ”
16) “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. ” – Early on in his career
17) “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. ”
18) “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. ”
19) “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 .”
20) “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 .”
21) “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. ”
22) “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. ”
23) “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. ”
24) “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. ”
25) “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. ”
26) “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. ”
27) “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. ”
28) “I don’t understand why people would want to get
rid of pigeons. They don’t bother no one.”
29) “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. ”
30) “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the
mouth.”