Oprah: What brings you joy?

Muhammad: Hearing a good lecture. Reading a good book. Eating a good meal. Having my wife meet me at the door when I come back from a long trip—can't tell you the rest!

Oprah: That's wonderful. What are your favorite things to eat?

Muhammad: Baked chicken, dressing, green peas, macaroni and cheese, spinach, and hot buttered rolls.

Oprah: Me, too—love those hot buttered rolls! When people think of you and see you now, what do you most want them to think about you?

Muhammad: I don't really care what they think. They can think what they want.

Oprah: But you don't want them to feel sorry for you.

Muhammad: I live. I travel. I eat. I pray. These are the things I do. I'd rather be in my condition than be a man with four children in a four-bedroom house, working hard every day to pay for his house, taking his children to school—but he's just another person nobody knows.

Oprah: Do you still like being known?

Muhammad: There's a reason I'm known—to bring people to Allah, to God.

Oprah: Are you happy?

Muhammad: I'm happy.

Oprah: I'd say you're happy, too. Thank you so much, Muhammad Ali.