Muhammad Ali Last Words: Love Each Other, I'll See You in Heaven
Muhammad Ali's last words were the simplest of his extraordinary life: "Love each other. I'll see you in heaven." The man who called himself "The Greatest" spent his final conscious days giving his children a farewell that had nothing to do with boxing.
Ali, born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1942, died on June 3, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona, of septic shock at the age of 74, after a three-decade battle with Parkinson's disease. His daughter recalled that when his breathing finally stopped, his heart kept beating for several more minutes — as if the most famous heart in sports history was unwilling to quit.
The Last Words
"Love each other. I'll see you in heaven."
According to his family, Muhammad Ali repeated these words to his children during his final conscious days. There was no fear in them, no regret — only the same certainty that carried him through his entire life. His daughter reported that his heart continued to beat after he had stopped breathing, a final echo of the fighter who never stayed down.
The King Who Gave Up His Crown
"I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong."
In 1967, at the absolute peak of his powers, Ali refused induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was stripped of his heavyweight title, banned from boxing for three years, and convicted — a price paid in the prime of his career for a principle. It was the same conviction that later defined his decades of humanitarian work and earned him the admiration of a generation.
Float Like a Butterfly
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see."
Three-time lineal heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist in 1960, and one of the most recognizable faces of the 20th century, Ali turned boxing into an art form. Like Bruce Lee, who revolutionized martial arts in the same era, and Kobe Bryant, who carried that same unbreakable will into the modern NBA, Ali proved that greatness is a matter of spirit as much as skill.
The Greatest's Final Request
Muhammad Ali's last words asked his children — and the world — for one thing: love. Browse the full story of the Greatest and more sporting legends in our Sports Section.