Logo - Feel The Words

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.

When I was growing up, the first thing I wanted to be was a cowboy. That lasted till I was about ten. Then I wanted to be a baseball player. Preferably shortstop for the New York Yankees.

Quotes by Jerry Spinelli

We've got to be Americans first. We've got to pull together and unite.

Quotes by Jerry Falwell, Jr.

My first airplane trip was to Paris. I had this fantasy that I would become a model, and I did!

Quotes by Jerry Hall

I put off writing the first Left Behind book for a year because I got invited to assist Billy Graham in his memoirs, and had we known what we were putting off for a year, we might not have put...

Quotes by Jerry B. Jenkins

SOON was the first novel where I used a rough outline. Usually I have characters and an idea and write as a process of discovery. Like working without a net.

Quotes by Jerry B. Jenkins

The First Amendment is not without limits.

Quotes by Jerry Falwell

When Yelp first took off, our rankings on Google would fluctuate wildly.

Quotes by Jeremy Stoppelman

I was playing garbage minutes the first two to three weeks. There was definitely a little bit of 'what's going on?' in my prayers.

Quotes by Jeremy Lin

I wanted to make sure that this be the first scientific and technology revolution in history in which the public thoroughly discussed all the potential benefits and all the potential harms, in advance of the technology coming online and running...

Quotes by Jeremy Rifkin

Back in the mid-1980s, congressional hearings were held after we brought this litigation, and held up the first experiment. At that time, I went in front of Congress, along with the major agencies involved with this.

Quotes by Jeremy Rifkin

Back in 1983, the United States government approved the release of the first genetically modified organism. In this case, it was a bacteria that prevents frost on food crops.

Quotes by Jeremy Rifkin

I was Hillary in '08. I love Obama, but I was Hillary first, so I was happy to be back there with her again.

Quotes by Jeremy Scott

I actually collect old First and Second World War memorabilia.

Quotes by Jeremy Irvine

Chris Boardman was my first teammate and my first roommate. I saw him finish his career with an hour record and thought, 'Yeh, what a way to go out!'

Quotes by Jens Voigt

When I first moved from Shanghai when I was five, I just thought of myself as Chinese.

Quotes by Jenny Zhang

If you were to make a quick judgment call on my intelligence and articulation when I first moved to the U.S. based on my speaking skills, it would be very low.

Quotes by Jenny Zhang

We were watching the first series recently, and it has a charm, a kind of amateur charm. At that point we didn't involve ourselves technically at all - we just messed about and told our jokes - and it looks...

Quotes by Jennifer Saunders

Aretha Franklin, first and foremost... That's my top girl there.

Quotes by Jennifer Holliday

I am obsessed with Chinese restaurants. Like many Americans, I first discovered them in my childhood.

Quotes by Jennifer Lee

When I was working on my first novel, 'The Quilter's Apprentice,' I knew I wanted to write about friendship, especially women's friendship and how women use friendship to sustain themselves and nurture each other.

Quotes by Jennifer Chiaverini

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.