I would say things like ‚I am the greatest! I’m pretty! If you talk jive, you’ll drop in five! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I’m pretty!‘ When white people heard me talking like this, some said, ‚That black man talks too much. He’s bragging.‘

Well, I don’t think there’s any need for people to focus on my career.

And above all things, never think that you’re not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning.

None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.

To excel at the highest level – or any level, really – you need to believe in yourself, and hands down, one of the biggest contributors to my self-confidence has been private coaching.

There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don’t need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain.

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

I will not be concerned at other men’s not knowing me; I will be concerned at my own want of ability.

I want kids to know: Don’t wait for somebody to come along and tell you you’re special. Because that may never happen.

Bragging just sounds good, man.

‚They‘ are the people that don’t believe in you, that say that you won’t succeed. We stay away from ‚They.‘

Don’t ever forget two things I’m going to tell you. One, don’t believe everything that’s written about you. Two, don’t pick up too many checks.

I trust my taste. I trust it completely and I always have done, and I’ve always thought it isn’t that different from everybody else’s.

A smart girl leaves before she is left.

I’m very secure about my talents and about who I am.

Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.

I’m not sure what you need first – the players believing or others believing in them – but in the end, both have to think it.

Self-actualized people are independent of the good opinion of others.

I don’t mind making jokes, but I don’t want to look like one.

I think people should feel encouraged to be themselves.

I don’t need to be vindicated, and I don’t want attention.

There will be days when I walk in an arena and people will cheer and then there might be days when I walk in an arena and people might boo, but it all sounds the same to me because it’s all just noise that lets me know that I’m relevant.

Power is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.

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

Be proud to be Latino and never lose that pride!

If you are against yourself, you will never reach your highest potential. And when you criticize yourself, you’re criticizing God.

Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others.

Forty is when you actually begin even deserving to be on stage telling people what you think.

I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.

I was very blessed to have family and friends, but particularly family, who told me I was not only all right, I was just right, so I believe that my brain is a good one, and it’s lasting me very well.

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.

If I feel anxious every time someone is staring at me, well, I can’t control what they stare at, but my reaction is, I’m just not going to go outside the house. I’m going to stay in and chill. And when I do go out, I understand what comes along with that.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.

For a man to achieve all that is demanded of him he must regard himself as greater than he is.

I am not handsome or sexy. Of course, it’s not like I am hopeless.

I heard that when Christina Aguilera went back to her prom, people, like, booed her. I can’t imagine going through that. If you know that’s going to happen, why put yourself in that situation? I’d rather play for 20,000 screaming people, you know?

I tend not to really think about what other people say. I’d rather just try and focus on what I’m doing, try and win basically.

You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.

What destroys more self-confidence than any other educational thing in America is being assigned to some remedial math when you get into some college, and then it’s not taught very well and you end up with this sense of, ‚Hey, I can’t really figure those things out.‘

I used to tease Joe Louis by reminding him that I was the greatest of all time. But Joe Louis was the greatest heavyweight fighter ever.

It was really hard for them to intimidate me. They felt I was intimidating. One of the growers had a name for me: I think it was ‚dragon lady‘ or something like it.

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.

We should not underestimate ourselves, because if lots of individuals go together then we can accomplish almost anything.

Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say it makes him more pleasing to others.

The expression a woman wears on her face is far more important than the clothes she wears on her back.

Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.

I am not designed to come second or third. I am designed to win.

There’s nothing I have to hide or defend. I’m gonna live my life. And there are times when people wanna try to attack me, and I don’t know why, but they will. And that’s okay.

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.

I want the world to see my body.

If you have enough people sitting around telling you you’re wonderful, then you start believing you’re fabulous, then someone tells you you stink and you believe that too!

I had nothing growing up, but I always wanted to be ‚sexy,‘ even before I knew what the word was.

I have always thought I was the best ever player.

Ali’s got a left, Ali’s got a right – when he knocks you down, you’ll sleep for the night; and when you lie on the floor and the ref counts to ten, hope and pray that you never meet me again.

I’m the greatest thing that ever lived! I’m the king of the world! I’m a bad man. I’m the prettiest thing that ever lived.

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.

Don’t ever doubt yourselves or waste a second of your life. It’s too short, and you’re too special.

I put my flaws on front street. So the world accepted my flaws, so I don’t have any flaws.

I don’t know if I’ve ever cared much what others think.

I think that I’m perfect.