---
title: "Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want i… — Muhammad Ali Quote #38 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God - and I insist peopl… — a quote by Muhammad Ali."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God - and I insist people use it when speaking to me and of me.

[Muhammad Ali](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali)\#38

[Identity](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali/identity/)[Respect](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali/respect/)[Freedom](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali/freedom/)[Names](https://quotesby.net/topics/names/)[Self](https://quotesby.net/topics/self/)

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## About this quote

What does it mean?Muhammad Ali rejects his birth name as a symbol of slavery and chooses his own identity.In plain termsHe refused a name given by others and took a name that means free and beloved.What can you take from it?Control your own name and identity.

### Where it applies

- personal naming
- religious conversion
- self-advocacy

### Putting it to work

- choose your own name
- reject imposed labels

### Questions to consider

- Who names you?
- What does your name say about you?

### Another view

Names do not determine freedom or worth by themselves.

## More from Muhammad Ali

1. > Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.

[Permalink to quote \#37](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali/37/ "Permalink to quote 37")
2. > Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina…

[Permalink to quote \#39](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali/39/ "Permalink to quote 39")
3. > Be loud, be pretty and keep their black-hatin' asses in their chairs.

[Permalink to quote \#36](https://quotesby.net/Muhammad-Ali/36/ "Permalink to quote 36")

## Related quotes

1. > I had discovered that a person does not have to be this or be that or be anything, not even oneself. One is free. \[citation needed\]

[Walker Percy](https://quotesby.net/Walker-Percy)[Walker Percy quote \#2](https://quotesby.net/Walker-Percy/2/ "Permalink to quote 2")
2. > 'Listen John-' 'Who's John?' 'You're John.' 'I'm John?' 'Yeah, I changed your name.'

[Dave Eggers](https://quotesby.net/Dave-Eggers)[Dave Eggers quote \#4](https://quotesby.net/Dave-Eggers/4/ "Permalink to quote 4")
3. > To fall into a habit is to begin to cease to be.

[Miguel de Unamuno](https://quotesby.net/Miguel-de-Unamuno)[Miguel de Unamuno quote \#20](https://quotesby.net/Miguel-de-Unamuno/20/ "Permalink to quote 20")

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