Today I have a great life. I have three kids and a beautiful wife. I play golf every day. I give to charities. I'm in a lucky position.

You have a small period of time when you can perfect your career and become good at it. A lot of guys get distracted, which only hurts them. You must stay focused and work very hard at boxing.

Boxing was not the sport that I thought is was due to all the politics.

I was a small kid from Huntington, Long Island. I never imagined that anything like that would happen to me.

You take that walk from the dressing room to the ring and that's when the real man comes out. Then you climb up those four stairs and into the ring. Then finally, you can't wait for the bell to ring.

I lost three times in my career. Losing to Holmes I could deal with, because I lost to a true champion.

All of the sports have a safety net, but boxing is the only sport that has none.

Muhammad Ali was the kind of guy you either loved or hated, but you wanted to see him. I happen to really love him. He brought boxing to another level and always made you laugh.

Roberto Duran was the kind of guy who was a true fighter and you hardly see guys like that anymore.

By the time you're 30 years old, you can be on a nowhere street, if you're not careful.

I am seeing all the guys, like Earnie Shavers, Tex Cobb, and Larry Holmes all the time.

And then eventually you wake up, fully rested, ready to fly again :)

There was something delightfully intimate about the relationship between predator and prey.

Better poetry than riches, Better poverty than fortunes.

Envy is an insult to oneself.

Homophobia: the fear that another man will treat you like you treat women.

How many times could you give up on someone you loved?

Human beings are not perfect. Their institutions are not perfect, but they have to keep trying. And America has to help people keep trying.

Many voted in 2008 with the desire to see racism and racists humiliated by having a qualified black man elected president.

Good storytelling is humanity's great connector, and it just might keep the world from eating itself.

Gardening requires lots of water... most of it in the form of perspiration.