The King, The Greatest and The Stage

“To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.”

–     Charles de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755), French philosopher

“Ali, boma ye!”  Never mind that it translates to “Ali, kill him,” it was a sign of the connection he had with the people of Zaire.  His humanitarian work in the last 40 years of his life was another way that Ali stood with people.  When he died a few days ago, the title “The Greatest” should have been retired, like Babe Ruth or Jackie Robinson’s jerseys.

Arnold Palmer, 86, will always be The King.  He’s still alive, but his health is failing quickly, and it won’t be long before The King joins The Greatest.  Even in a sport constantly critiqued for being “elitist,” Arnie’s Army, his legion of millions of fans, continues to grow to this day.

As much as any icons, ever, The Greatest and The King have stood with the people.  Iconic figures today tend to stand above them.  And there is inspiration in that lesson.

More than the Rumble in The Jungle, or the three heavyweight titles Ali won, and more than the 92 golf tournaments Arnold won over a 56-year career, what separates them is the millions upon millions of people world-wide that they’ve touched, inspired and lifted up, so that when they were on the stage, people stopped and watched.  Golf fans or not, boxing fans or not — people wanted to see Arnie and Ali on the stage.

As much as they loved The Stage, in Ali’s passing and Arnold’s decline, we are reminded of another stage.  A stage of life wherein our icons exit.  And we are left to remember.

We should also remember that regardless of our position in life or our careers we have a choice every day — to stand with or to try to elevate ourselves above the people around us.  There is no guarantee of 74 or 86 years, or even of tomorrow morning.  There is only the guarantee that regardless of the stage of life, or the stage upon which we “perform,” the key to being the greatest or the king is remembering that we have the choice to stand with those around us, and we ought to make that choice.