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First Quotes

On beginnings, and what a 'first' really changes.

The quotes gathered here treat 'first' loosely: a rookie athlete crediting the teammates who set the tone early, a filmmaker's take on what should scare an audience right away, and a physicist weighing what can and can't be known first. If early relationships resonate, see our First Love.

A first preview is not exactly a pleasant experience for directors and actors. You're never as raw as when the audience first comes in.

Quotes by John Tiffany

In my first film, Five Corners, I played a very scary, violent crazed character, and it exposed me to a lot of directors.

Quotes by John Turturro

The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop.

Quotes by John Updike

I don't envisage I will be captain again, but for two England managers, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello, I was their first choice and I'm proud of that.

Quotes by John Terry

One of the first lessons he or she learns is that in baseball anything, absolutely anything, can happen. Just two days ago as I write this, something happened that had never happened in baseball before.

Quotes by John Thorn

In a private room he showed me the first specimens of gold, that is he was not certain if it was gold or not, but he thought it might be; immediately I made the proof and found that it was...

Quotes by John Sutter

We like to be the largest outside investor, and the first outside investor.

Quotes by John Simon

When I first started, I was kind of surprised that anyone would ever hire me at all. So I took everything that I was offered.

Quotes by John Slattery

My first day as an intern in the books department at 'Cosmopolitan' also happened to be the day the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced.

Quotes by John Searles

What a fantastic honour to be given the opportunity to write a column in the first ever 'Sunday Sun.'

Quotes by John Sentamu

When I first concluded to print the book, I made an honest effort to construct it in the third person.

Quotes by John Sergeant Wise

In the year 1857, passing through Washington on our return from the annual visit to Philadelphia, I had the distinguished honor of visiting a President for the first time.

Quotes by John Sergeant Wise

Germany, I think, was first to substitute a Social Security program for its elderly based on this premise, that is, that we would tax workers to pay retirement benefits for those retired.

Quotes by John Shadegg

Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. That is a paradigm shift of the first order.

Quotes by John Shelby Spong

There's something about marriage that is not as intensely romantic or interesting as a couple's first meeting.

Quotes by John Sandford

Legislative novelty is not necessarily fatal; there is a first time for everything.

Quotes by John Roberts

I made my final collection in college in London using Irish handwoven wool. That is how I discovered Ireland first; I just fell in love with it, really.

Quotes by John Rocha

When I first started doing influencer marketing for my company Due, I lost my shorts with literally no return on my investment.

Quotes by John Rampton

I did three club tours before I started playing concert halls, and the clubs were half full the first time around.

Quotes by John Prine

In Cyberspace, the First Amendment is a local ordinance.

Quotes by John Perry Barlow

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this page include a quote about starting an NFL career?
Yes. One quote looks back on the very beginning of an NFL career, crediting teammates named Tim Dwight and Eric Parker with showing what work ethic it takes to be an NFL receiver. It's a good example of first marking an early, formative stage of a career. For more on early milestones, see First Step quotes.
Is there a quote about horror movies or scaring an audience?
Yes - one quote states it plainly: "The first monster you have to scare the audience with is yourself." It's a compact idea about confronting your own fear before you can frighten anyone else. For more on how first moments set the tone, browse First Impression quotes.
Does this collection touch on science, like physics?
It does. One quote discusses the uncertainty relation, explaining that it does not refer to the past, and using the example of an electron's velocity being at first known and its position then exactly measured. It's a more technical, scientific sense of first.
What does the quote about the constitution say?
One quote makes a direct statement: "The constitution does not provide for first and second class citizens." It's a clear, principled statement about equal citizenship. It naturally pairs with First Class quotes on this page.
Do all the quotes here use "first" the same way?
Not at all - that's part of the appeal. Across this page, first describes a rookie's early days in the league, a monster's first scare, an electron's first known velocity, and even first-class citizenship. If you like exploring different kinds of firsts, First Love quotes make a nice companion stop.

One quote pushes past personal firsts into a civic claim about equal standing under the constitution, which broadens the theme beyond simple nostalgia. Related pages include First Impression and First Step.