There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That's okay. Just spell my name right.
Mike TysonRead
Fighting is endurance, knocking a guy out in 10 seconds is not fighting, its beating him to the punch. But when you put in that time, that is fighting because you are thinking
Interpretation
True fighting requires endurance and thought, not just quick victories.
In this quote, Mike Tyson emphasizes that genuine fighting is a test of endurance and mental strategy, rather than merely achieving swift victories. He suggests that true skill in combat comes from sustained effort and the ability to think critically during a prolonged engagement, indicating that the essence of fighting lies in the struggle and thoughtful execution rather than instant results.
In practice
In a motivational speech about perseverance in sports.
There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That's okay. Just spell my name right.
I'm scared every time I go into the ring, but it's how you handle it. What you have to do is plant your feet, bite down on your mouthpiece and say, 'Let's go.'
It doesn’t faze me what anyone says about me. It doesn’t matter what anyone says about me. I’m a totally different entity to what other people think. Michael and Tyson are two different people. I’m Tyson here.
I had to persevere because this was my life. This championship, this was the stuff I dreamt of all my life, and I wasn't gonna be denied.
One minute I'm robbing a dope house. Next minute I'm the youngest heavyweight champion of the world. I'm only 20, 19, with a lot of money. Who am I? What am I? I don't even know who I am. I'm just a dumb child who's being abused and robbed by lawyers. I'm just a dumb pugnacious fool. I'm just a fool who thinks he's someone. Then you tell me I should be responsible.
At one point, I thought life was about acquiring things. But as a I get older, life is totally about losing everything.
I can never acknowledge the right of slavery. I will bow down to no deity however worshipped by professing Christians - however dignified by the name of the Goddess of Liberty, whose footstool is the crushed necks of the groaning millions, and who rejoices in the resoundings of the tyrant's lash, and the cries of his tortured victims.
Shouting down and intimidating someone from speaking their mind is not exactly a Vermont town meeting value, nor should it be an American town meeting value.
Courageous people feel the same fear everyone else does, they just decide to not be afraid anymore.
There's no pride in having been a child soldier.
The fact is, human rights victories are rarely won by powerful governments or well-armed militaries. More often than not, these battles are led by individuals and small groups of people determined to overcome wrong. Think King, Gandhi, Mandela.
It is my birthright, it is my political right, it is my democratic right, it is my constitutional right... that I must open my mouth... my voice... I can raise my voice.
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