"That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy"
About this Quote
The line “If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it” is deliberately unreasonable, and that’s the point. It’s not literal deafness; it’s selective attention as strategy. Foreman’s subtext is that most pressure in fighting comes from storylines - critics, fear, ego, hype - the noise that drains timing and decision-making. If you refuse the narrative, you starve anxiety. “Fights are easy” isn’t bravado so much as reframing: the hardest opponent is often the internal committee of doubt and other people’s expectations.
In context, Foreman’s career makes this posture feel earned, not cute. He lived through public defeat, reinvention, and an improbable late-life return that turned him into both champion and cultural icon. That arc required an ability to let shame and skepticism slide off without pretending they weren’t there. The quote doubles as athletic advice and brand philosophy: calm is marketable, resilience is repeatable, and the real flex is staying unbothered when everyone is trying to move you.
Quote Details
| Topic | Resilience |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Foreman, George. (2026, January 17). That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-my-gift-i-let-that-negativity-roll-off-me-49215/
Chicago Style
Foreman, George. "That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-my-gift-i-let-that-negativity-roll-off-me-49215/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"That's my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck's back. If it's not positive, I didn't hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-my-gift-i-let-that-negativity-roll-off-me-49215/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.








