Muhammad Ali continuously amazes me. This was a great book - it was a combination of an autobiography and a book about spirituality. It's structured almost like a scrapbook (with complete paragraphs, of course), and has subchapters with his reflections, poetry, anecdotes, and various quotes.In this book, Ali talks about his life and the lessons he learned along the way. It was so touching when he apologized to Joe Frazier for the things he said about him before Thrilla in Manila; and to Malcolm X for turning his back on him when Malcolm X wanted to part ways from Elijah Muhammad. [sidenote: it's interesting that he didn't apologize to his second wife, Belinda Ali, for publicly humiliating her by carrying on his affair with Veronica Porsche and bringing her to the Philippines and introducing her as his wife ... ] Ali also talks about his refusal to report for the draft during Vietnam; his nine (yes, nine) children; and his decision to become Muslim.
I liked this quote:
"The key to peace of heart and mind is approaching life not with a determination to gain wealth and fame for comfort and glory in this life, but rather with a goal of realizing spiritual development. If you keep a positive mind and an optimistic outlook on life, negativity loses its power to make you unhappy. God's love is universal. He is with us always. Let Him guide you and you will never be lost."
No matter which path we choose to worship God, some lessons are truly universal.
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