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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.

These years of the Ecole Normale were an ordeal. Nothing was handed to me on the first try.

Quotes by Jacques Derrida

I have a lot of traditional values I follow personally, which was hard to deal with when I first moved to L.A.

Quotes by Jacob Zachar

At first, I didn't really have a passion for acting.

Quotes by Jacob Batalon

Music was sort of my thing at first.

Quotes by Jacob Batalon

I was really into the first 'Spider-Man' films with Tobey Maguire, so it's pretty cool how it all came full circle.

Quotes by Jacob Batalon

My first film, 'Vanishing on 7th Street,' I really just kinda went in for it. Just gave it my all at the auditions.

Quotes by Jacob Latimore

I was in a movie called 'Vanishing on 7th Street,' and that was my first leading role in a movie. It's an apocalyptic thriller, and it's really cool. It's the first movie I ever shot.

Quotes by Jacob Latimore

In the U.S., free speech and the press are protected by the First Amendment. It has a clarity unmatched by modern legislators and declares that 'Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or the press.'

Quotes by Jacob Rees-Mogg

Constitutionally, a revising chamber is useful and important. The first occasion I know of in history when the Lords fulfilled this role was in 1539 when Henry VIII's act of proclamations was neutered by their lordships so effectively that the...

Quotes by Jacob Rees-Mogg

It is of considerable importance that politicians stick to their commitments or do not make such commitments in the first place.

Quotes by Jacob Rees-Mogg

I'd look at one of my stonecutters hammering away at the rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the hundred and first blow it would split in two, and I knew...

Quotes by Jacob Riis

The first intimation I had that the Yankees were for sale was through an item to that effect in the newspapers. The idea instantly occurred to me that here was a prospect to become interested in a major-league club at...

Quotes by Jacob Ruppert

Working 40 hours a week used to mean a minimum standard of living and a foothold on the first rung of the economic ladder to the middle class.

Quotes by Jackie Speier

My first acting job was a Breck commercial.

Quotes by Jaclyn Smith

Though the Grimms kept about 100 of the tales from the first edition, they changed them a good deal.

Quotes by Jack Zipes

I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan.

Quotes by Jackie Chan

I'll be a wife and mother first, then First Lady.

Quotes by Jackie Kennedy

Electing the first Catholic president, my grandfather, in 1960, did not mean that religious intolerance disappeared from our land.

Quotes by Jack Schlossberg

Electing the first African-American president was a tremendous accomplishment, but it hasn't erased racism.

Quotes by Jack Schlossberg

I worked for half a cent a word. I'm not a fast writer to begin with, so for the first few years I had do other things.

Quotes by Jack Vance

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.