The boxer Muhammad Ali was known as “the champ,” arguably the most famous athlete of his generation. He was on top, and his entourage of trainers and various helpers shared the adulation with him. But the party ended, leaving many of Ali’s loyal followers disillusioned—and in some cases, destitute. Ali himself, now halting in speech and uncertain in movement, says “I had the world, and it wasn’t nothin.’”

Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 11