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Home: George Foreman Quotes

George Foreman Quotes

Professional Boxer
Born On
1949-01-10
Birth Place
Marshall, Texas, United States
Birth Sign
capricorn
Father
Leroy Moorehead
Mother
Nancy Foreman
Spouse
Mary Joan Martelly (m. 1985), Adrienne Calhoun, Andrea Skeete, Cynthia Lewis, Sharon Goodson
Nationality
American
Education
Wheatley High School
Sportspersons, Boxers

Do you know George Foreman as a boxer or as a grill salesman? There are millions of people out there, who know of this man as the diligent entrepreneur who was highly successful in promoting the George Foreman Grill (the inventor was someone else though). However, Foreman was also a formidable pugilist who fought 81 matches in his career and ended up winning 76 of those. Even more admirable is the fact that he won 68 of the 76 matches by knockout.

However, as far as net worth is concerned, this Summer Olympics gold medal winner earned it not because of his boxing career, but because of his profession as a business tycoon. In 1994, he began advertising the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grill. Within five years, the product became so sought-after that he sold the naming rights for a staggering 138 million dollars. It was this entrepreneurial move that caused his net worth to shoot up—something his professional sports career could never fetch him.

Another fact about Foreman that is indeed fascinating is the kind of names he has chosen for most of his children. His five sons are all named George—George Jr, George III, IV, V and VI. Two of his daughters are named Freda George and Georgetta. To counter those who laugh at his weird choice of nomenclature, Foreman retorts, “If you're going to get hit as many times as I've been hit by Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Evander Holyfield - you're not going to remember many name”.

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.

Good Happiness
George Foreman

Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it.

Boxing People Jazz
George Foreman

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

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.

People Smile
George Foreman

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.

Love Freedom
George Foreman

Generally when there's a lot of smoke... there's just a whole lot more smoke.

George Foreman

The question isn't at what age I want to retire, it's at what income.

Age
George Foreman

The referee is going to be the most important person in the ring tonight besides the fighters.

George Foreman

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.

Positivity
George Foreman

I know from experience that you should never give up on yourself or others, no matter what.

Experience
George Foreman

I am a winner each and every time I go into the ring.

Time
George Foreman

In boxing, I had a lot of fear. Fear was good. But, for the first time, in the bout with Muhammad Ali, I didn't have any fear. I thought, 'This is easy. This is what I've been waiting for'. No fear at all. No nervousness. And I lost.

Good Time Fear
George Foreman

Sure the fight was fixed. I fixed it with a right hand.

Right
George Foreman

Evil lurks where disappointment lodges.

Disappointment Wickedness
George Foreman

I get up in the morning looking for an adventure.

Adventure
George Foreman

A hero is someone right who doesn't change.

Change Right
George Foreman

Heroes always have their scars. Some you can see, some you read about later on.

Injury
George Foreman

I was a tiger, a good fighter, in good shape, but I was always nervous before boxing matches.

Good
George Foreman

It's very important that people know that I really enjoy everything that has happened to me. And I tell my kids... you're not going to be the tallest, fastest, prettiest, the best track runner, but you can be the nicest human being that someone has ever met in their life. And I just want to leave that legacy that being nice is a true treasure.

Life
George Foreman

Heroes have a rough time because they stand up when they ought not to, they speak when they ought not to; they always have to go that extra mile.

Time
George Foreman

We'd always said boxers shouldn't lift weights. Now I realize some champion boxer started that rumor. I noticed if I did weights a couple of times a week, I would be able to hit that jab a lot longer. After sparring, everybody's gone, and I sneak into the weight room. Spend 40 minutes in there lifting weights.

George Foreman

Put your name on something, it better be the best... you only get one shot.

George Foreman

I wanted to be the best street fighter in Houston, Texas. And I thought if I got a trophy or two, I'd go back home, and everyone would be afraid of me. I had one fight in '67, the first one. In '68 of October, I was an Olympic gold-medalist, a dream come true, with a total of 25 boxing matches.

Home
George Foreman

When I left boxing in 1977 to be a preacher, I couldn't make a fist after I learned about Jesus Christ.

Boxing
George Foreman

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?'

Business Country Trust Truthfulness
George Foreman

Growing up poor, I didn't even have a lunch to take to school. Lunch was 26 cents, and we didn't even know what 26 cents looked like. I didn't love school because I wanted to disguise that I was poorer than everybody else.

Love School
George Foreman

My friends know that they're my friends - even my enemies know that they're my friends.

Enemies
George Foreman

It would be hard to throw a punch to someone who wasn't a boxer, who wasn't in the ring, and who didn't have on a pair of boxing gloves and who hadn't been training.

Boxing Training
George Foreman

If you can maintain that integrity in whatever you do, you can't go wrong. That's what I tell my kids, anyway.

Truthfulness
George Foreman

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.

People Time
George Foreman

You don't know what it is to be heavyweight champ of the world until you become the heavyweight champ of the world.

World
George Foreman

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.

Mirror
George Foreman

'Iron' Mike Tyson is the last boxer who was truly embraced by the media. They followed him around. You didn't know what he was going to do next: bite you, cut you, fight you. When you think about it, that defines him - it was an exciting adventure.

Media
George Foreman

Forgiveness is that subtle thread that binds both love and friendship. Without forgiveness, you may not even have a child one day.

Friendship Love Forgiveness
George Foreman

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

My kids idea of a hard life is to live in a house with only one phone.

Life Teenagers
George Foreman

Sonny Liston stood up to me and actually made me give ground. No one has ever done that to me before or since.

George Foreman

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.

Fighting Fighting
George Foreman

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.

Time
George Foreman

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.

Greatness
George Foreman

I named all my sons George Edward Foreman. And I tell people, 'If you're going to get hit as many times as I've been hit by Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Evander Holyfield - you're not going to remember many names.'

People
George Foreman

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.

Home
George Foreman

The Internal Revenue Service is the real undefeated heavyweight champion.

Service
George Foreman

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.

Greatness Personality
George Foreman

You don't have to try to hurt people and be angry to be an athlete.

People
George Foreman

Everybody wants to be somebody. The thing you have to do is give them confidence they can. You have to give a kid a dream.

Confidence Dreams
George Foreman

People are hurt in love affairs and never recover, more than a boxing match.

Love People
George Foreman

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.'

Teachers
George Foreman

My favorite drink is water - the bland one: Evian. I stick with that. I celebrate in the evening sometimes with Perrier. That's why I love coming to California. They're always talking to you about bottled water.

Love Water
George Foreman

I'm never without my dog. They would be in every corner of the house, and my wife will not allow me to have any more than that. But I have lots of dogs. I love the dogs. I breed them. I always have a puppy coming. And I show dogs. I show German shepherds.

Love Wives
George Foreman

As a child I was sometimes so hungry that I used to dream that one day I'd get locked in a grocery store.

Dreams
George Foreman

I look at my children and one thing I'm most proud of, in my heart, are my children.

Heart
George Foreman

Just look at the great Nelson Mandela. He came out of prison and saved his entire country. Some of the best people in the world have spent time in prison.

Greatness Time World
George Foreman

I started a youth center in Houston. The kids would come in and want to learn to box; they wanted to tear up the world, beat up the world. And I'd try to show them they didn't need anger. They didn't need all that killing instinct they'd read about. You can be a human being and pursue boxing as a sport.

Anger World Youth
George Foreman

Money is a good thing, but every morning you have to get up with something no one else in the world gets up with - that's that image. That face you see in the mirror, you got to love it, and you better do some things that you feel good about inside of you. Of course, money is going to come, but make certain that you do some good with it.

Good Love
George Foreman

The Olympic Gold medal in 1968 was definitely the highest moment of my career. It was a dream come true. I was a 19-year-old boy, and it was just amazing to be standing on top of the podium and hearing the National Anthem in the background.

Gold
George Foreman

I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won.

Boxing
George Foreman

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.

Night Strength Wives
George Foreman

Anytime I can sneak in a moment to fish and ride horses, I'm a happy camper.

George Foreman

My mother was watching on television and she doesn't want me to hurt anyone.

George Foreman

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.

Money Focus
George Foreman

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.

People Problems Women
George Foreman

I cannot remember a time when I was not getting into fights.

Time
George Foreman

You wouldn't meet a Joe Frazier down today and then up tomorrow, said hello to big shots then ignore someone on the lower level; he was the most consistent human being. What you see is what you get.

George Foreman

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.

People
George Foreman

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

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.

Retirement World
George Foreman

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.

Money Business Truthfulness
George Foreman

All the dogs I have are German shepherds from Germany, and I fly them back to Germany to show them.

George Foreman

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.'

Life
George Foreman

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

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.

World
George Foreman

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.

World
George Foreman

Preaching is the most original thing I've ever done. There's nothing familiar about it. You have to be brave.

Nothing
George Foreman

Oh, there's nothing more dangerous in life at getting hurt at than love itself. People are hurt in love affairs and never recover, more than a boxing match.

Life Love People
George Foreman

We fought in 1974 - that was a long time ago. After 1981, we became the best of friends. By 1984, we loved each other. I am not closer to anyone else in this life than I am to Muhammad Ali. Why? We were forged by that first fight in Zaire, and our lives are indelibly linked by memories and photographs, as young men and old men.

Life Time
George Foreman

Every day, getting up early in the morning before much traffic, my wife takes me 10 miles from home, drops me off, and I have to get back.

Home
George Foreman

All my sons are named George Foreman. They all know where they came from.

George Foreman

Getting up to Zaire - getting ready to fight Muhammad Ali - I thought this will be a matter of just a little exercise. I'll probably knock him out in three rounds. Two, three - maybe three and a half rounds. That was the most confidence I had in my whole life.

Life Confidence
George Foreman

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.

Mind
George Foreman

When I was a boxer, I wanted to be champion of the world, not the richest man in the world.

World
George Foreman

I think its so good for boxing when a new guy or new blood as we call it, makes a big statement.

Good
George Foreman

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.

Life
George Foreman

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.'

Life Hope
George Foreman

When I was in the ring, you really saw the best of me. Outside the ring, I was really some terrible fellow.

George Foreman

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.

Love
George Foreman

Sports are sports. Its all about how we carry ourselves out of the ring.

Sports
George Foreman

I'm a winner each and every time I go into the ring.

Time
George Foreman

I tell my sons all the time, 'The most important thing in your life is fitness,' but a lot of fighters go overboard.

Life Time Fitness
George Foreman

I feel that I had been rescued from the gutter by America. One day I was under the gutter, chased by police, thinking dogs were going to get me. I laid there listening to the dogs and the gutter. The next day, there I am standing on the Olympic platform, and you hear the anthem. I was proud.

George Foreman

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.

Work
George Foreman

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

They'll take everything, even your tears.

George Foreman

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.

People Problems Women
George Foreman

As a matter of fact, there was a period of time, especially in my first career, when that's the only one who would work out with me: my dogs. As you get better and better working out, there's no one who can keep up with you running.

Time Work
George Foreman

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.

Life Age Hope
George Foreman

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.

Power World
George Foreman

You may have even an ex-wife or an ex-husband, but you can never have ex-children.

George Foreman

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.

Boxing Time
George Foreman

Changing your nature is the hardest thing to do. But I discovered that you can be who you choose to be.

Nature
George Foreman

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