125 Best Mike Tyson Quotes for Motivation

Mike Tyson, born in 1966, rose from an early life filled with crime and hardship to become an undisputed heavyweight boxing champion at the age of 20.

His tumultuous childhood and family tragedies were contrasted by his boxing successes under the mentorship of trainer Cus D’Amato.

His professional debut in 1985 led to 19 consecutive wins and he won the WBC, WBA and IBF titles consecutively by 1987, earning him Ring Magazine’s Fighter of the Year in 1986 and 1988.

Mike Tyson

Tyson’s reign was interrupted by a shock loss to James “Buster” Douglas in 1990, followed by a rape conviction in 1992 which saw him serve three years in prison.

A controversial post-prison comeback saw him regain and then lose titles, accompanied by legal troubles and public scrutiny.

Related: Marvin Hagler Quotes from American Professional Boxer and Rocky Marciano Quotes from American Professional Boxer

Tyson, once the “Baddest Man on the Planet,” officially retired in 2006 after a dramatic career characterized by successes, falls from grace and memorable fights.

I have outlined some of the most inspiring quotes by Mike Tyson.


Best Mike Tyson Quotes

1. “If you’re not humble, life will visit humbleness upon you.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

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2. “You never lose until you actually give up.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

3. “Money is my God. If you think God will help you then quit your job and see how much he cares.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

4. “The tempt for greatness is the biggest drug in the world.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

5. “Fear is like fire; it can be helpful if you know how to use. If not, you’ll get burned.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

6. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

7. “I want your heart, I want to eat your children.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

8. “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

9. “A man that is a friend to everyone is an enemy to himself.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

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10. “Don’t be surprised if I behave like a savage. I am a savage.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

11. “Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but nonetheless doing it like you love it.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

12. “No one wants to get up at 4 and run when it’s pitch-dark, but it has to be done. The only reason I do it so early is because I believe the other guy isn’t doing it and that gives me a little edge.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

13. “I am the most ruthless, brutal champion ever. There is no one who can match me. I want your heart. I want to eat your children.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

14. “Everybody you fight is not your enemy and everybody who helps you is not your friend.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

Mike Tyson Quotes for Motivation

15. “Real freedom is having nothing. I was freer when I didn’t have a cent.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

16. “You can’t be disturbed by anything. There’s no emotion involved. You can’t feel sorrow, you can’t feel pity, there’s nothing you feel. The job has to be done.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

17. “I fight for perfection.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

18. “I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

19. “Basically I don’t care what people think of me. I’m not in the communications business.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

20. “Fighting is not physical, fighting is spiritual. It’s the determination and the will in the guy.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

21. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

22. “You need to learn independence. You have to be independent – it builds character.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

23. “What I’ve done in the past is history and what I’m gonna do in the future is a mystery.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

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24. “Anger is my biggest enemy in life.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

25. “I’m on the Zoloft to keep from killing y’all.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

26. “God lets everything happen for a reason. It’s all a learning process, and you have to go from one level to another.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

27. “Whatever my situation, I’m a strong disciplinarian; I can do what I hate to do but do it like I love it.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

28. “Things can change. Life is all a learning process.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

29. “I’m addicted to perfection. Problem with my life is I was always also addicted to chaos. Perfect chaos.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

30. “Destroy or be destroyed! I just love that way of life!” ~ (Mike Tyson).

31. “As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

32. “My biggest weakness is my sensitivity. I am too sensitive a person.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

33. “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.’” ~ (Mike Tyson).

34. “It’s nothing personal, but I’m going to kill this guy.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

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35. “I just want to conquer people and their souls.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

36. “All praise is to Allah, I’ll fight any man, any animal, if Jesus were here I’d fight him too.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

37. “I normally don’t do interviews with women unless I fornicate with them.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

38. “Nothing is more humbling than getting your ass kicked.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

39. “When I fight someone, I want to break his will. I want to take his manhood. I want to rip out his heart and show it to him.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

40. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

41. “I felt the same fear in my first fight as I did in my last fight. It never goes away.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

42. “At one point, I thought life was about acquiring things. Life is totally about losing everything.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

43. “I never think of physical fighting. It’s always spiritual. Fighting is spiritual.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

Top Mike Tyson Quotes

44. “I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It’s ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

45. “I just look around and say, I’m a mess. I don’t know why I do things.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

46. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

47. “I’m a good friend, but I’m a hell of an enemy. As your enemy, I want your demise. When I feel that in my heart it burns till I die.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

48. “Hard times fall upon everybody. Whatever it is, we’re going to get out of it.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

49. “There’s nothing like being young, and happy, and fighting.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

50. “You’re sweet. I’m going to make sure you kiss me good with those big lips. I’m gonna make you my girlfriend.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

51. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

52. “Unfortunately, sometimes you can’t have fun accomplishing your goals. Sometimes people don’t have the determination, the will, the steadfastness, the tenacity, they give in under the slightest struggle.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

53. “Everybody thinks this is a tough man’s sport. This is not a tough man’s sport. This is a thinking man’s sport. A tough man is gonna get hurt real bad in this sport.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

Powerful Mike Tyson Quotes

54. “I sacrifice so much of my life, can I at least get laid?” ~ (Mike Tyson).

55. “I’m a man. I lived it and I’m not afraid to die but when I die I’m going to paradise and I’m not worried.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

56. “Most of my fans are too sensitive. I’m a cruel and cold and hard person. I’ve been abused in every way you can imagine. Save your tears. I lost my sensitivity. You embarrass me when you cry.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

57. “I’ve lived places these guys can’t defecate in.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

58. “I think I’ll take a bath in his blood.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

59. “I ain’t the same person I was when I bit that guy’s ear off.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

60. “I’m here to serve God and be of service. I’m nothing; everything out here is a lot bigger than me.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

61. “I just want to try everything. I want to see how good I can be, the best I can be at what I’m doing. I want to do everything. You know? I want to be in a musical. I want to do everything. I want to try and sing.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

62. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

63. “Sometimes, the people we invest the most time in disappoint us the most.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

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64. “The mind is a real dangerous neighborhood to travel by ourselves.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

65. “I try my best to learn from other people’s mistakes. I have a lot of respect for people who can change.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

66. “I’m a historian, and that freaks me out.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

67. “I may have smoked too much weed, but I wasn’t taking drugs or anything.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

68. “There are not many regrets that I have. There are a few things that I wish I’d changed in my life, but they are not so dramatic that I’d go out of my way to change them. But I go back and think about my life so far periodically in my head.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

69. “They say I can’t lose. I say you can’t win!” ~ (Mike Tyson).

70. “Being a champion opens lots of doors – I’d like to get a real estate license, maybe sell insurance.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

71. “I’m trying to figure things out in the world. No one knows what this life thing is all about – there’s no manual. Just trying to figure it out.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

72. “Man is not meant to be humble, he’s meant to be humbled.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

73. “I want to throw down your kid and stomp on his testicles, and then you will know what it is like to experience waking up everyday as me. And only then will you feel my pain.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

74. “Fighters are never who they appear to be.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

75. “They called me a ‘rapist’ and a ‘recluse.’ I’m not a recluse.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

Famous Mike Tyson Quotes

76. “In order to succeed greatly, you have to be prepared to fail greatly. If you can’t do both of them, you’ve got a problem.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

77. “I don’t react to a tragic happening any more. I took so many bad things as a kid and some people think I don’t care about anything. It’s just too hard for me to get emotional. I can’t cry no more.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

78. “Fighting is a sport if you’re not humble it’s going to bring humbleness to you.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

79. “Everybody wants to be somebody. Everybody wants to be noticed. Everybody wants to be somebody important. Importance is just treating people good. That’s important.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

80. “He was crying in there, making woman gestures.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

81. “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…” ~ (Mike Tyson).

82. “I’m going to gut you like a fish.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

83. “Lennox Lewis, I’m coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I’m just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!” ~ (Mike Tyson).

84. “My style was impetuous, my defenses were impregnable, and I was ferocious.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

85. “Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

86. “It’s good to know how to read, but it’s dangerous to know how to read and not how to interpret what you’re reading.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

87. “I just have this thing inside me that wants to eat and conquer. Maybe it’s egotistical, but I have it in me. I don’t want to be a tycoon. I just want to conquer people and their souls.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

88. “When Jesus comes back, these crazy, greedy, capitalistic men are gonna kill him again.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

89. “My power is discombobulatingly devastating.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

90. “I don’t want anyone to have to interview me. I wish I didn’t have to talk too much about myself.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

Short Mike Tyson Quotes

91. “I’ll go back and take what the people owe me.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

92. “If he’s not dead, it doesn’t count.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

93. “I don’t want to be remembered. As long as my kids remember me, I’d rather be forgotten by everybody else.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

94. “If I was fighting myself, I always say that I would kill Mike Tyson but then again I don’t know how hard a punch Mike Tyson can take and I don’t know how hard Mike Tyson’s punch is. I don’t know. For me looking at me, I think I can beat me.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

95. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

96. “We all have struggles in life but we have to continue to fight.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

97. “Our money is bait money, and bait money is not to be used.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

98. “I just want to do what I do best, and that’s fight. I love it.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

99. “I’m not afraid to be a jerk or anything and laugh at myself anymore.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

100. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

101. “Fade into Bolivian, I guess.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

102. “If you’re a professional, you’ll make it work. you can be like, ‘I’m not going to do that, I’m going to do it where I’m satisfied.’ But I’m very comfortable being uncomfortable so I just go for it.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

103. “When I was young, I thought I was a god. Now, I just basically work on staying humble. My priorities changed. Just to be able to try to change them – that was frightening to me.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

Inspiring Mike Tyson Quotes

104. “People love you when you’re successful, but if you’re not, who really cares about you?” ~ (Mike Tyson).

105. “Treat the world the way you want to be treated.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

106. “How dare these boxers challenge me with their primitive skills? It makes me angry.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

107. “I don’t understand why people would want to get rid of pigeons. They don’t bother no one.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

108. “I’m a Muslim, but I think Jesus would have a drink with me. He would be cool. He would talk to me.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

109. “When I was in prison, I was wrapped up in all those deep books. That Tolstoy crap – people shouldn’t read that stuff.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

110. “You stand your ground and you perform your art. That’s what the artist does. The artist is about perfection.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

111. “I refuse to let adversity allow me to be average.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

112. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

113. “There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes, just don’t make the same ones. We don’t want to duplicate them.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

114. “Guess I’m going to fade into Bolivian.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

115. “I love to hit people. I love to.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

116. “I want someone to attack me. No weapons. Just me and him. I like to beat men and beat them bad.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

117. “Boxing brought me money and fame, but it never brought me no happiness.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

118. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

119. “I’m the most brutal and ruthless conquerer there has ever been.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

120. “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.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

121. “Every punch was thrown with bad intentions.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

122. “I don’t care how much you love each other, if you have secrets, it’ll never work. That’s why she’s your loved one, because it’s the love of one. Togetherness, you are one.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

123. “We all have to control our feelings. That’s the thing that separates us from animals.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

124. “It’s the emotional punches that you can’t see that are just overwhelmingly devastating to your heart – your moral fiber.” ~ (Mike Tyson).

125. “The drug dealers, they sympathize with me. They see me as some sort of pathetic character.” ~ (Mike Tyson).



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Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar