Top 25 Joe Louis Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”

— Joe Louis

Featured in: Heaven Quotes

2. “A champion doesn’t become a champion in the ring, he’s merely recognized in the ring. His “becoming” happens during his daily routine.”

— Joe Louis

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes for Men, Workout Quotes, Boxing Quotes

3. “We’re going to do our part and we’ll win because we’re on God’s side.”

— Joe Louis

4. “He can run, but he can’t hide.”

— Joe Louis

5. “You have to be tough and stick it out, or you wind up being nothing.”

— Joe Louis

6. “It hurt to even bump into him.”

— Joe Louis

7. “You need a lot of different types of people to make the world better.”

— Joe Louis

8. “If you gotta tell them who you are, you ain’t nobody.”

— Joe Louis

9. “I can show you how to box. I can teach you every technique and trick I know, but I can never make you a fighter. That comes from inside, and it’s something no one else can ever give you.”

— Joe Louis

10. “If you cheat on your road work in the dark of the morning, you will be found out in the big fight under the bright lights.”

— Joe Louis

11. “Money can’t buy happiness, but it does quiet the nerves.”

— Joe Louis

12. “Every man got a right to his own mistakes. Ain’t no man that ain’t made any.”

— Joe Louis

13. “I don’t like money very much, but it calms my nerves.”

— Joe Louis

14. “Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain’t going to fix them.”

— Joe Louis

15. “There is no such thing as a natural boxer. A natural dancer has to practice hard. A natural painter has to paint all the time. Even a natural fool has to work at it.”

— Joe Louis

16. “Once that bell rings you’re on your own. It’s just you and the other guy.”

— Joe Louis

17. “Why should I? When someone insulted Caruso, did he sing an aria for him?”

— Joe Louis

18. “The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love.”

— Joe Louis

19. “I done the best I could with what I had – Joe Louis.”

— Joe Louis

20. “Every man’s got to figure out how to get beat sometime.”

— Joe Louis

21. “The one-time cotton picker was now the heavyweight champion of the world.”

— Joe Louis

22. “I hope they’re still making women like my momma. She always told me to do the right thing. She always told me to have pride in myself; she said a good name is better than money.”

— Joe Louis

23. “Yeah, I’m scared. I’m scared I might kill Schmeling.”

— Joe Louis

24. “I don’t like money actually, but it quiets my nerves.”

— Joe Louis

25. “Every fighter have a plan until he’s been beaten.”

— Joe Louis

26. “I made the most of my ability and I did my best with my title.”

— Joe Louis

27. “Let me tell you, that was a thrill. Now, even more, I knew I had to get Schmeling good.”

— Joe Louis

28. “When I was boxing I made five million and wound up broke, owing the government a million.”

— Joe Louis

29. “The whole damned country was depending on me.”

— Joe Louis