Best quotes from Ali memorial service

Jun 10, 2016

"Muhammad Ali was America. Muhammad Ali will always be America."

PIC: Widow Lonnie Ali speaks during a memorial service for her late husband boxing legend Muhammad Ali at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday. (AFP/Getty Images)

The following are a selection of key quotes from Friday's public memorial service honoring boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who died last week at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease:

Rule-breaker

"If Muhammad did not like the rules, he would rewrite them. His religion, his name, his beliefs, were his to fashion, no matter what the cost."

-- Ali's wife Lonnie

Face of America

"Muhammad Ali was America. Muhammad Ali will always be America."

-- Senior presidential aide Valerie Jarrett, reading a tribute from President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Daring

"He dared to love black people at a time when black people had a problem loving themselves."

-- Senior Pastor Kevin Cosby, St Stephen's Baptist Church

Compassionate

"He may have been a tough man in the ring but he was a compassionate and tender man around those he loved."

-- Senator Orrin Hatch, speaking as a member of the Mormon faith

Heart of Louisville

"Muhammad Ali was the heart of this city -- the living, breathing embodiment of the greatest that we can be."

-- Rabbi Joe Rapport

Friend of Malcolm X

"Having Muhammad Ali in my life somehow sustained my dad's breath for me just a little while longer -- 51 years longer until now."

-- Attallah Shabazz, daughter of slain Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X

Conscientious objector

"At the key moment when he had that recognition, he used it to stand up to an immoral war and say, 'No, I won't go'."

-- Rabbi Michael Lerner, speaking about Ali's refusal to serve in Vietnam



Guests look on during a memorial service for boxing legend Muhammad Ali on June 10, 2016 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. (AFP/Getty Images)

 

 

Kacy Jackson works on a drawing of Muhammad Ali outside the KFC Yum! Center during a memorial service for the boxing legend. (AFP)

 

 

A picture of Muhammad Ali lies atop a pile of flowers lining the front of Muhammad Ali's childhood home Grand Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky. (AFP)

 

 

Muhammed Ali appears in a painting with other historical figures in a painting for sale on Grand Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky. (AFP/Getty Images)

 

 

A vendor sells Muhammad Ali memorabilia while people attend a memorial service for the boxing legend at the KFC Yum! Center nearby in Louisville, Kentucky. (AFP)


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