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Born Quotes

Where you start shapes who you become.

This page gathers quotes about origins in the literal sense — being born into music, born in a specific state or country — alongside a more analytical note on how each generation's tastes differ from the one before it. For more on personal identity, see our Identity quotes.

My family pride is something inconceivable. I can't help it. I was born sneering.

Quotes by William Gilbert

Essayists, like poets, are born and not made, and for one worth remembering, the world is confronted with a hundred not worth reading. Your true essayist is, in a literary sense, the friend of everybody.

Quotes by William Ernest Henley

To be born woman is to know - although they do not speak of it at school - women must labor to be beautiful.

Quotes by William Butler Yeats

There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why.

Quotes by William Barclay

I was born and raised in the ghetto, on welfare, two minutes from homeless.

Quotes by will.i.am

Every artist makes himself born. It is very much harder than the other time, and longer.

Quotes by Willa Cather

I want to keep 'A Star Is Born' with the greatest reverence ever.

Quotes by Willam Belli

I am not here to parade my religious sentiments, but I declare I have too much respect for the faith in which I was born to ever use it as the basis of a political organization.

Quotes by Wilfrid Laurier

Born ham, that's basically me.

Quotes by Whoopi Goldberg

I feel like I was born to make music.

Quotes by Weyes Blood

I was born in New Jersey, but it doesn't sound like I'm from a certain region.

Quotes by Wesley Schultz

I was born on June 3rd, 1929, in Graenichen in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, where I went to the public schools until the age of 16.

Quotes by Werner Arber

I was the first of my siblings born here in the United States.

Quotes by Wayne Messam

I was born in a very small town in North Dakota, a town of only about 350 people. I lived there until I was 13. It was a marvelous advantage to grow up in a small town where you knew...

Quotes by Warren Christopher

The only men who aren't in fear of women's reactions are usually men who aren't born or who are dead.

Quotes by Warren Farrell

I was born in a family with a strong military background, so I chose to be a soldier.

Quotes by Wang Jianlin

Born Free is an idea that came from a place of deep respect for the delicate cycle of life. How incredible to be able to work with gifted designers who, as mothers, recognize what the devastating loss of a child...

Quotes by Wangechi Mutu

I've never been one to stay still. I was born a nomad, and I still am a nomad and always will be.

Quotes by Waris Dirie

It must be born in mind that one does not see directly - as is the case in the exploration of the surface of the brain - where the electrodes are attacking.

Quotes by Walter Rudolf Hess

I was born in 1923 into a middle class Jewish family in Vienna, a few years after the end of World War I, which was disastrous from the Austrian point of view.

Quotes by Walter Kohn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a quote about feeling born to do something specific, like music?
Yes, one quote puts it simply: "I feel like I was born to make music." For more on this sense of purpose and identity, see our Identity quotes.
Is there a quote about being born in one place but not sounding like it?
Yes, one quote notes: "I was born in New Jersey, but it doesn't sound like I'm from a certain region." For more on origins and starting points, check our Beginning quotes.
Is there a quote that gives an exact birth date and place?
Yes, one quote is quite specific: "I was born on June 3rd, 1929, in Graenichen in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, where I went to the public schools until the age of 16." For more reflections on the shape of a life, see our Life quotes.
Is there a quote comparing people born in different generations?
Yes, one quote observes: "We are working to understand the tastes of people born in the 1980s and 1990s - it is very different from my generation." It's a reminder of how much perspective can shift between generations.
Where can I find more quotes about identity and emotion tied to where we come from?
Our Emotion quotes are a good next stop for more on the feelings tied up in where and how we begin.

Quotes about how people start out and grow continue on our Beginning page, while Life quotes take the theme further into adulthood.