Gene Tunney Quotations

If all human lives depended upon their usefulness - as might be judged by certain standards - there would be a sudden and terrific mortality in the world.

To enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise.

Exercise should be regarded as tribute to the heart.

Fat is one of the chief enemies of the heart because it has to be plentifully supplied with blood and thus needlessly increases the pumping load that the heart must sustain.

A concave chest means that your diaphragm is sagging.

The man who has allowed his body to deteriorate cuts a pitiful figure - chest collapsed, stomach protruding.

In youth, we get plenty of exercise through games and running around, but as middle life approaches, we settle down, literally and figuratively.

The way to know about championship quality is to learn from champions, and that I did; studying them with professional purpose during my time in the ring and from habitual interest afterward.

A boxer's diet should be low in fat and high in proteins and sugar. Therefore you should eat plenty of lean meat, milk, leafy vegetables, and fresh fruit and ice cream for sugar.

Never eat less than four hours before boxing. Then eat only lightly.

Handball, swimming, running, jumping, basketball, and boxing were as much a part of me as breathing.

Normally, I could hit hard enough, as anyone who studied my fights might have known. But the impression was that I was essentially defensive, the very reverse of a killer, the prize fighter who read books, even Shakespeare.

Upon awakening in the morning, I wondered if the proceedings of the night before had been a dream. It was hard to believe that I was the world's heavyweight champion.

Though I was not a belligerent kid, I do not think I ever passed up a good opportunity to fight.

One half-conscious thought was burned in my mind: stay on your feet.

As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow than in striking one.

A boxer must exercise and develop every part of his body.

Ever since boyhood I've made a religion of keeping in shape by regular, conscientious exercise.

I did six years of planning to win the championship from Jack Dempsey.

My own ambition in the ring had always been skillful boxing, speed and defense - on the order of Mike Gibbons.

To stay relaxed and avoid tiring mentally and physically, it is necessary to get plenty of sleep and frequent rests during the day.

Actually, I started my ring career as a terrific hitter; then my hands cracked up and I had to resort to boxing and tricks to win.

No matter how skilled a boxer may be, he cannot stand up in the ring and give a good account of himself unless he is in perfect physical condition.

Being in top shape can make you a winner, while entering the ring in poor shape, not only cuts your chances of winning, but can be very dangerous.

But in the ring Jack Dempsey was an instinctive fighter. I doubt if he ever planned anything in the ring, or thought about it much.

Many complain of a chronic weariness that sleep will not banish. Their trouble is that too little blood is pumped through the body per minute; this sluggishness, permitting poisonous waste matter to accumulate in every cell, clogs the channels of energy.

But I do say that, if you will regularly devote 15 minutes a day, preferably before breakfast, for 60 days to the simple set of exercises that I devised for conditioning men in the navy, I guarantee that you will enjoy increased physical buoyancy and mental vigor.

I've seen Dempsey fight and I was impressed with his lack of knowledge.

My own ambition in the ring had always been skillful boxing, speed and defense - on the order of Mike Gibbons.

The greatest fighter I ever saw