Home / Authors / Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson Quotes

Professional Boxer

Mike Tyson, born on June 30, 1966, is a renowned professional boxer from the United States. He achieved great success in the 1980s and early 1990s, becoming a world heavyweight boxing champion. Tyson was known for his powerful punching and unique boxing style, winning the WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF heavyweight championship titles.

Filter quotes by topic

All Boxing Mike Knows People Ifs Sports Want Fighting Fighter Guy

Famous Mike Tyson Quotes

“I was blessed with speed and a good punch. Everybody thinks I'm the hardest puncher ever. But I just think I was really fast, and my punches got to the target faster. That's what made my knockouts always seem spectacular.”

Thinking Made Seems Blessed Speed Hardest Faster Target Spectacular Knockouts

Author:Mike Tyson

“People see it [boxing] as a physical contact sport, but it's not. It's really a spiritual one of will against will. Who wants it the most? How much is he willing to take - and dish out - to get it? It's like fighting is 10 percent physical and 90 percent emotional.”

People Want Spiritual Fighting Sports Emotional Willing Percent Contact Boxing Dishes Contact Sports

Author:Mike Tyson

“I was an emotional manipulator of fighters . . . You have to know how to be cold, you know? Just have no -emotions, no feelings. It takes time, though, to develop that. I'd been working on that since I was 12 years old. It doesn't happen overnight.”

Knows Years Feelings Happens Emotion Know How Emotional Cold Fighter Take Time It Takes Time Manipulator

Author:Mike Tyson

“My objective was to hurt the other fighters. I wanted to hurt them. I wanted to be merciless. Man, I was a wild thing. It's kind of a drug, a rush.”

Men Kind Wanted Hurt Drug Objectives Fighter Wild Things

Author:Mike Tyson

“I didn't come from a household where my mother dragged me outside and said, "You'd better fight." My mother wouldn't let me fight. I was not an aggressive kid.”

Said Kids Mother Fighting Let Me Aggressive Household

Author:Mike Tyson

“I was very dedicated and serious about fighting. I'd read about all the fighters. I found out where they came from, knew about their mothers and their fathers . . . I just read all about their lives, their training.”

Mother Fighting Found Father Serious Training Fighter Dedicated

Author:Mike Tyson

“I felt the same fear in my first fight as I did in my last fight. It never goes away.”

Firsts Lasts Fighting Felt

Author:Mike Tyson

“I'm not a Republican, but I have some conservative views on certain things. I'm not a Democrat, either. It's just very difficult that these people hate each other over a belief. I think it all comes down to ego and competitiveness.”

People Thinking Certain Hate Belief Difficult Views Republican Ego Democrat Conservative Competitiveness

Author:Mike Tyson

“Boxing is an ego-driven sport. The idea is to not get too personal or emotional with it. You just know when it's over, it's over, and that's it.”

Knows Ideas Sports Emotional Ego Driven Boxing Over It

Author:Mike Tyson

“Anger is my biggest enemy in life.”

Author:Mike Tyson

“I could never stop drugs, I could never stop drinking, until I received my spiritual awakening.”

Spiritual Drug Drinking Awakening Spiritual Awakening Stop Drinking

Author:Mike Tyson

“We all have to control our feelings. That's the thing that separates us from animals.”

Feelings Animal

Author:Mike Tyson

“There's nothing to fear but fear itself. It's an illusion of fear. Fear is an illusion. If you gonna die, you gonna die anyway; it's not something to fear, fear is not gonna help.”

Ifs Helping Dies Illusion

Author:Mike Tyson

“I ain't never loan friends money; I give it to 'em and I don't expect to get it back. Even when he says, "I'll pay you back," I never expect it. If he gives it back, then hey, that's a feather in his cap, but I don't expect to get it back.”

Ifs Giving Pay Hey Ems Feathers Loan Caps Never Expect

Author:Mike Tyson

“Sometimes during a relationship, a friendship, a friend's gonna have to prove they're your friend, and you're gonna have to prove you're their friend.”

Sometimes Prove

Author:Mike Tyson

“Sometimes, the people we invest the most time in disappoint us the most.”

People Sometimes Disappoint

Author:Mike Tyson

“In order to be a friend to anybody, you have to be a friend to yourself. If you're not a friend to yourself, there's no way you're gonna have any friends.”

Author:Mike Tyson

“You can't be everybody's friend, you can't save the world, I learned this word: self-preservation. Once you do that, you can be friends with people, but how would you be a friend to anybody if you're not a friend to yourself.”

People Ifs World Self Preservation Save The World Self Preservation

Author:Mike Tyson

“You have to be a friend to yourself. You know, 'cause if you're not a friend to yourself, you're an enemy to yourself and if someone's a friend of everybody they are an enemy to themselves.”

Ifs Knows Causes Enemy

Author:Mike Tyson

“You have to compete in life because if you don't have no competition - no competition, no spirit, you know, you'll fall under the slightest struggle.”

Ifs Knows Spirit Fall Struggle Competition

Author:Mike Tyson

“You need to learn independence. You have to be independent - it builds character.”

Needs Character Independent Independence

Author:Mike Tyson

“Common sense is so very simple but very difficult to grasp.”

Difficult Simple Common Common Sense

Author:Mike Tyson

“If you can't remember the small things, how are you going to remember the big things? The mind is a real dangerous neighborhood to travel by ourselves.”

Ifs Mind Real Bigs Remember Dangerous Neighborhood Big Things Small Things

Author:Mike Tyson

“There's no future in our past. Just experience. We want to return to it, but we don't want to close the door on it either.”

Want Past Doors Return Our Past

Author:Mike Tyson

“There's nothing wrong with making mistakes, just don't make the same ones. We don't want to duplicate them.”

Want Mistake Making Mistakes Duplicate

Author:Mike Tyson

“I'm happy because - I'm not doing anything deceitful, I think, to my family. I'm successful because I don't have to sleep with one of my friends' girlfriends or wife or something. That's why I'm successful, that's success to me. I'm not dead, I'm not in the gutter - that's success to me.”

Thinking Sleep Successful Wife My Friends My Family Girlfriend Deceitful Gutters

Author:Mike Tyson

“Guess I'm going to fade into Bolivian.”

Author:Mike Tyson

“I don't want my kids to be like me, I don't want my daughter to date a guy like me. You know, for a guy like me success is to take care of my children to take care of their life and make 'em cushioned. I don't want them to be around people like me. You know, success for me would be that they never have the opportunity of being in the presence of someone like me.”

People Knows Want Children Would Be Care Kids Guy Opportunity Daughter Take Care Like Me My Children Ems My Daughter

Author:Mike Tyson

“I like doing other things. I like getting high, hanging out with my kids. I like drinking. I have so many demons.”

Kids Drinking Demon Hanging Out Getting High

Author:Mike Tyson

“The most important thing in the world for show business, really, you know everything's a high-tech business, but what people want now is what they can't get - exclusivity.”

People Knows World Want Important Shows Important Things Show Business Exclusivity

Author:Mike Tyson

“I never think of physical fighting. It's always spiritual. Fighting is spiritual.”

Thinking Spiritual Fighting

Author:Mike Tyson

“The mind is a real dangerous neighborhood to travel by ourselves.”

Mind Real Dangerous Neighborhood

Author:Mike Tyson

“If you did everything your mind told you to do, you do some really strange stuff. You'll probably be in jail, you'll be in trouble. But, it's all about control. We all have to control our feelings. That's the thing that separates us from animals.”

Ifs Mind Feelings Stuff Animal Trouble Strange Jail

Author:Mike Tyson

“There's nothing like being young, and happy, and fighting.”

Author:Mike Tyson

“I hate to cry and I hate to sound like sour grapes, but no one ever listens to me. No one ever hears what I have to say.”

Hate Sound Cry I Hate Grapes Sour Listen To Me Sour Grapes

Author:Mike Tyson

“If Mike Tyson is in your courtroom and you don't send him to jail, it's an injustice. Everyone knows he's a bad guy. So if he is in your courtroom, he should go to jail.”

Ifs Knows Should Guy Injustice Jail Bad Guys Mike Tyson Courtroom

Author:Mike Tyson

“I try my best to learn from other people's mistakes. I have a lot of respect for people who can change.”

People Trying Mistake

Author:Mike Tyson

“I'm not a good-looking guy. I don't care if my nose gets mashed.”

Ifs Care Guy Don't Care I Don't Care Noses Looking Good Good Looking Guys

Author:Mike Tyson

“If my children will live a better life than I did by my getting brain damage, by my being brain dead, then let it be.”

Ifs Children Brain My Children Damage Better Life Brain Dead

Author:Mike Tyson

“I don't want to be remembered. As long as my kids remember me, I'd rather be forgotten by everybody else.”

Want Long Kids Remember Forgotten Remembered Remember Me

Author:Mike Tyson

“You have to have a bunch of dimensions [of yourself]. You have to be able to adapt in this world. You can't be a nice guy living in a world of savages.”

World Able Guy Nice This World Bunch Dimensions Savages Nice Guy

Author:Mike Tyson

“I'm a bad guy. But if I was a good guy, nobody would want to pay to see me fight.”

Ifs Want Guy Fighting Pay Bad Guys Good Guy

Author:Mike Tyson

“What was most important was the knowledge [aspect] of the fight. I learned this early on and just told myself to "upgrade my mind." That's just what I wanted to do my whole life.”

Mind Important Whole Wanted Fighting Aspect Whole Life

Author:Mike Tyson

“Five heads are definitely better than one when they're thinking in the same perspective. I think that you really need to have people that you trust. And for me, trust comes from that synchronizing, that same-mindedness.”

People Thinking Needs Five Perspective

Author:Mike Tyson

“Sometimes you have to wait for the right deal. They all seem good, at least at first, and they may make you some quick money. But when the right deal comes, and it fits into your [overall] plan, it's just overwhelming success. Sometimes, with the long-term deals, you have to take a risk if you're going to get a reward. It's exactly like fighting. Sometimes you have to take chances to get that huge win.”

Ifs Firsts May Long Sometimes Seems Fighting Winning Waiting Term Chance Deals Plans Risk Huge Fit Rewards Long Term Overwhelming Take A Chance

Author:Mike Tyson

“Confidence applied properly is the path of genius. You must always be in a state of confidence. And the way you sustain a state of confidence is by testing yourself. Difficult quagmires that may occur; there's always a test. You have to seek them out. You constantly have to test yourself to prepare for these quagmires. That's why I always put myself to the test.”

Way May States Difficult Path Genius Tests Testing Quagmire Testing Yourself

Author:Mike Tyson

“You have to feel comfortable being uncomfortable. I'm always comfortable being uncomfortable. And to be comfortable being uncomfortable, I have to hone my discipline, which to me is doing what I have to do, but also doing it like I love it.”

Feels Discipline Comfortable Uncomfortable

Author:Mike Tyson

“Any man can do what he has to do. But doing it like you love it? That is what takes it to a whole different level. A champion does it like he loves it, even when he doesn't.”

Men Doe Different Whole Can Do Levels Like You Champion Different Levels

Author:Mike Tyson

“Kindness and humbleness are really good qualities to possess. But, if you have to use the word humble, it means you're not humble. And if you're not humble to this world, this world will thrust humbleness upon you.”

Ifs World Mean Use Quality Kindness This World Humble Thrust Humbleness Good Quality

Author:Mike Tyson

“I had it in my mind: to be confident, and to keep saying that until the confidence appeared. But I took it too far. Confidence did help make me champion, but, man, I took it to a whole different level. I was a megalomaniac. I was not humble and it eventually came back on me. So I want my kids to know, keep humbleness and kindness in their hearts. It will prevail.”

Knows Men Want Mind Heart Different Whole Helping Kids Levels Kindness Humble Champion Be Confident Humbleness Different Levels Megalomaniacs

Author:Mike Tyson

About the Author

Born: June 30, 1966
Known for: Professional Boxer
Quotes: 368

Related Topics

Boxing Mike Knows People Ifs Sports Want Fighting Fighter Guy

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Iron Ambition: Lessons I've Learned from the Man Who Made Me a ChampionRelated source material

Undisputed TruthRelated source material

Similar Authors

Don KingBrowse related quotes
Angelo DundeeBrowse related quotes
Sugar Ray LeonardBrowse related quotes
Joe LouisBrowse related quotes
Cus D'AmatoBrowse related quotes
Lennox LewisBrowse related quotes
Charlie FlynnBrowse related quotes
Floyd Mayweather, Jr.Browse related quotes
Larry HolmesBrowse related quotes
Tommy FarrBrowse related quotes