Top 100 George Foreman Quotes
#1. I've been on the opposite side of decisions before when the crowd would be booing and saying that I lost. I've lived with it. Judging in boxing has been same since the beginning, and it isn't gonna change.
George Foreman
#2. You have to keep your goal in mind and never lose sight of it. I envisioned myself winning the heavyweight title for ten years before I actually captured it. If you're not driven to do your best, you'll never reach the level of excellence in your life.
George Foreman
#3. I think its so good for boxing when a new guy or new blood as we call it, makes a big statement.
George Foreman
#4. The integration of a headgear in professional boxing would do so much to make it safer for young men. They could go into the sport, make a lot of money and then come out and be good grandfathers.
George Foreman
#5. We all think we've got one more boxing match in us, and that, probably, will be the downfall of Floyd Mayweather, George Foreman, Manny Pacquiao. We'll overstay our welcome.
George Foreman
#6. You don't have to try to hurt people and be angry to be an athlete.
George Foreman
#7. You want to leave something; you really do. I mean, in the end, statues and all those things, that doesn't mean anything. Leave something that we're all going to benefit from. I think that's what I'd like to do.
George Foreman
#8. As bad as your situation may be, someone else always has it worse than you.
George Foreman
#9. You don't know what it is to be heavyweight champ of the world until you become the heavyweight champ of the world.
George Foreman
#10. All of a sudden, one day, you're this boxer that everybody like, or you're this guy that people pass on the highway and wave at. The next day, you're this guy that everybody want to touch - be in touch with you. Then you think that this is the answer to all things.
George Foreman
#11. When it gets to the part in life where you're more afraid of what your wife is going to do to you than if you box, say, Mike Tyson, you've got to get a new profession. You don't get to be a family. I know why boxers never quit, some of them. They don't have wives.
George Foreman
#13. I hope to have one more boxing match at the age of 55. Given that demographic at the age of 55 to 65, you've got to make a statement with your life. Otherwise, you are just existing.
George Foreman
#14. They call it the rope-a-dope. Well, I'm the dope. Ali just laid on the rope and I, like a dope, kept punching until I got tired. But he was probably the most smart fighter I've ever gotten into the ring with.
George Foreman
#15. Excellence isn't achieved without inspiration and perspiration. You've got to have both.
George Foreman
#16. After you work out, you have your dog with you. There's no better companion. You've got to have a friend. I didn't like opponents who had dogs with them. Because you know they had a little edge. They have a friend.
George Foreman
#17. I do believe he's the greatest, but forget about boxing - give that to Joe Louis, or somebody - I believe he's one of the greatest men I've ever met.
George Foreman
#18. Frazier was not a big man at all. Frazier was about 5'9, but he would make anyone run. Put up your dukes and cover up because he's coming. He never backed up from anyone.
George Foreman
#19. Sports are sports. Its all about how we carry ourselves out of the ring.
George Foreman
#20. It's great to reminisce about good memories of my past. It was enjoyable when it was today. So learning to enjoy today has two benefits: it gives me happiness right now, and it becomes a good memory later.
George Foreman
#21. I think that every boxer should understand he's on the pedestal for a short span. It's best that you use boxing and don't let boxing use you. Use boxing to sell, because people are selling you through your boxing career, so you have to learn to sell yourself, and you'll never starve.
George Foreman
#22. In 1973 I became heavyweight champion of the world with 38 victories, no defeats as a professional. You get to a point where you think you cannot lose. I felt like I had the greatest power with my fists, I was the strongest man in the world.
George Foreman
#23. There are a lot of guys who are successful, they make a lot of big money, I mean millions overnight with a contract, and they don't understand the evaporation. It evaporates. You're always back to square one. I found that out, so integrity is how I do business. That's my main asset.
George Foreman
#25. In your business or in your close relationships, if you want people to perform Herculean feats on your behalf, they must know that you care about them.
George Foreman
#26. You've got to have a focus. You just fight for money, you get hurt. You focus on the title, you'll just naturally make money doing it.
George Foreman
#27. Let the other guy have whatever he wants before the fight. Once the bell rings he's gonna be disappointed anyway.
George Foreman
#28. Changing your nature is the hardest thing to do. But I discovered that you can be who you choose to be.
George Foreman
#29. I wanted to be champ of the world, but I kept hoping something would happen to Frazier. I didn't want to fight him. Nobody wanted to fight Joe Frazier.
George Foreman
#30. Forgiveness is that subtle thread that binds both love and friendship. Without forgiveness, you may not even have a child one day.
George Foreman
#31. But boxing was my profession. I had to go back the second time because I was broke and I couldn't just go and get a college degree and earn it. I had too many bills, too many families.
George Foreman
#32. When I was a boxer, I wanted to be champion of the world, not the richest man in the world.
George Foreman
#33. When you're in a single-parent home, they try to give you a good foundation, but by the time you're 4 or 5 years old, from that point on you're pretty much on your own.
George Foreman
#34. I was a tiger, a good fighter, in good shape, but I was always nervous before boxing matches.
George Foreman
#35. To succeed in business, you need somebody in your corner who cares enough to challenge you and is courageous enough to tell you the truth, especially when the pressure is on.
George Foreman
#36. I dread handshakes. I've got some problems with my hands, and everywhere I go, people want to impress me with their grip. To make it worse, now women are coming up with that firm shake. So I'll say, 'Gimme five!' If a boy wants a handshake, I'll just give him a hug.
George Foreman
#37. The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters.
George Foreman
#38. Many people fail not so much because of their mistakes; they fail because they are afraid to try.
George Foreman
#40. My friends know that they're my friends - even my enemies know that they're my friends.
George Foreman
#41. George Foreman. A miracle. A mystery to myself. Who am I? The mirror says back. The George you was always meant to be. Wasn't always like that. Used to look in the mirror and cried a river.
George Foreman
#42. Heroes always have their scars. Some you can see, some you read about later on.
George Foreman
#43. When I was in the ring, you really saw the best of me. Outside the ring, I was really some terrible fellow.
George Foreman
#44. Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.
George Foreman
#45. One of my goals is to inspire everyone I meet to become a better person.
George Foreman
#46. You got to look nice. If you got 10 kids, they'll talk about you if you don't look nice.
George Foreman
#47. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Just learn from the guys who have already done it well. You need a mentor, a seasoned coach who is willing to share his wisdom and experience with you. Ask someone who has already been successful to guide you.
George Foreman
#48. I never get upset about what I read in the newspaper. I realize that every human being can make a difference in this world.
George Foreman
#49. The greatest asset, even in this country, is not oil and gas. It's integrity. Everyone is searching for it, asking, 'Who can I do business with that I can trust?'
George Foreman
#50. Nobody can do everything well, so learn how to delegate responsibility to other winners and then hold them accountable for their decisions.
George Foreman
#51. Boxing has been the most difficult thing I've ever done. The biggest challenge in my life. I was a boxer. That was hard. Everything else is pretty easy.
George Foreman
#52. I want to tell everybody that there is really a living God.
George Foreman
#53. They say I don't fight guys unless they're on a respirator. That's incorrect. They have to be at least 3 days off a respirator.
George Foreman
#54. Muhammad Ali is a true hero, and the fact there's something wrong with him is his badge of valour. He's a great man.
George Foreman
#55. It embarrasses me to think of all those years I was buying silk suits and alligator shoes that were hurting my feet; cars that I just parked, and the dust would just build up on them.
George Foreman
#56. I am so happy to be alive. That's the one thing I'd like for people to know. Sometimes people walk by and slip up and say the wrong thing about me, and I'll smile. They wonder why am I smiling. Because I'm happy that I'm alive.
George Foreman
#57. I'm a winner each and every time I go into the ring.
George Foreman
#58. Just take one step at a time, trusting that God still has a plan for you, and He will make the best out of your situation.
George Foreman
#59. Put your name on something, it better be the best ... you only get one shot.
George Foreman
#60. When I was a kid in Houston, we were so poor we couldn't afford the last 2 letters, so we called ourselves po'.
George Foreman
#61. I love the UFC. I love it. If they had had that back when I was coming up, in 1966, it would have been my sport. Man, I love it. And you know what? Nobody would have pulled the rope-a-dope on me.
George Foreman
#62. The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it's at what income.
George Foreman
#63. I think sleeping was my problem in school. If school had started at 4:00 in the afternoon, I'd be a college graduate today.
George Foreman
#64. I look at my children and one thing I'm most proud of, in my heart, are my children.
George Foreman
#65. The fighters who give it all will be around for next year. Give it all you've got. Don't save anything.
George Foreman
#66. If you learn to sell, it's worth more than a degree. It's worth more than the heavyweight championship of the world. It's even more important than having a million dollars in the bank. Learn to sell, and you'll never starve.
George Foreman
#67. To be successful in life, you must get in the habit of turning negatives into positives.
George Foreman
#68. If I could take a punch like that, I might have been able to think up a name besides George for all my sons.
George Foreman
#69. The sport needs a personality, not a fighter. We've got plenty of great fighters in the sport, but no personalities. No one is standing for anything. The last personality we had was Mike Tyson. He stood for something. It wasn't much, but he stood for something.
George Foreman
#70. So many of us have loved ones and people we really care about, and the only time we show affection is when they are gone. I have preached at funerals, and you see loved ones who didn't even say hello to dear ones when they were alive. Give them hugs, kisses while they are alive and need it.
George Foreman
#71. The Rope a Dope would not have existed without the Big Dope.
George Foreman
#72. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. I take that one step further. You shouldn't do anything unless you do it right.
George Foreman
#73. I'm on the record for five losses or something like that, but the one guy who really whipped me was Muhammad Ali. And it taught me one big lesson. That no matter how big and strong you are, you're going to have to use your mind. You must think things out.
George Foreman
#74. My mother was watching on television and she doesn't want me to hurt anyone.
George Foreman
#75. In raising children, life brings forth those things where you do what you should never have done and what I taught you never to do. And when my kids have done those things, I just kind of look at them and say, 'Now you know life.'
George Foreman
#76. I don't even think about a retirement program because I'm working for the Lord, for the Almighty. And even thought the Lord's pay isn't very high, his retirement program is, you might say, out of this world.
George Foreman
#77. I always carried a small American flag red white and blue with me so people would know I was from America.
George Foreman
#78. As an entrepreneur, don't follow the crowd; let them follow you.
George Foreman
#79. There shouldn't be budget problems. There is so much money that goes untapped. If every athlete gave 5% of what they earned, there wouldn't be any budget problems.
George Foreman
#81. If you can maintain that integrity in whatever you do, you can't go wrong. That's what I tell my kids, anyway.
George Foreman
#82. I want to keep fighting because it is the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don't fight, I'll eat this planet.
George Foreman
#83. When I left boxing in 1977 to be a preacher, I couldn't make a fist after I learned about Jesus Christ.
George Foreman
#84. I love the pigeons. I just raise them, period, and feed them. Pigeons go away, and they always come back. You get a touch of freedom, and then they are free to come back to you. I love the idea of pigeons.
George Foreman
#85. These guys from the nation's capital - now they do a lot of thinking. Referring to boxers from D.C., not politicians.
George Foreman
#87. A Jack Russell terrier? My god. He'll burn you up. They never stop. A German shepherd, you can only go so many miles.
George Foreman
#88. The world is full of people who want to play it safe, people who have tremendous potential but never use it. Somewhere deep inside them, they know that they could do more in life, be more, and have more
if only they were willing to take a few risks.
George Foreman
#89. That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.
George Foreman
#90. I remember in school once the teacher gave us a speech about anyone can make it if they try, and then she looked at me and said. 'I don't know what you are going to do, Georgie.'
George Foreman
#91. I didn't come back for the money. I just got sick of beating people up for free.
George Foreman
#92. Filling a need is not merely good business; it's a basic attitude towards life. If you see a need, do whatever you can to meet that need.
George Foreman
#93. I tell my sons all the time, 'The most important thing in your life is fitness,' but a lot of fighters go overboard.
George Foreman
#94. That gal's all skull and no brains. She's like Joe Frazier with lipstick.
George Foreman
#95. I got a strength coach. My wife. She gets big chains, and at night she puts them around the refrigerator. They are so strong, I can't break them.
George Foreman
#96. Anytime I can sneak in a moment to fish and ride horses, I'm a happy camper.
George Foreman
#97. Generally when there's a lot of smoke ... there's just a whole lot more smoke.
George Foreman
#98. When I step into the ring with someone, this has got to be their vacation spot, but my home turf. So I go the opposite side seven rounds doing the same thing. Skipping, skipping, skipping. Then I go seven rounds going both ways. Skip to the left, skip to the right.
George Foreman
#99. It's strange because you - your life goes so swiftly. You look up one day you're a teenager, the next day you're a grandfather and you want to decide, 'I sure hope my kids don't make the same mistakes.'
George Foreman
#100. When you speak to a lot of kids, as I've done over the years, you know what to say, keep them laughing, good illustrations and learn to read.
George Foreman
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