His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see.

Others may know pleasure, but pleasure is not happiness. It has no more importance than a shadow following a man.

I want fifteen referees at this fight…because there ain’t no one man who can keep up with the pace I’m gonna set except me

All of us are so mixed. My great-grandfather was white.

Women are not equal with men, that's sure. When the woman is in danger she always looks to the man for help. We are superior by nature. The black or white woman needn't worry in life because the world is ruled by the white man.

I need to get everything straight. I'm not involved in a power struggle between black and white.

I came back to Louisville after the Olympics with my shiny gold medal. Went into a luncheonette where black folks couldn't eat. Thought I'd put them on the spot. I sat down and asked for a meal. The Olympic champion wearing his gold medal. They said, "We don't serve niggers here." I said, "That's okay, I don't eat 'em." But they put me out in the street. So I went down to the river, the Ohio River, and threw my gold medal in it.