April 5: Notable Births, with Quotes
Explore memorable and revealing quotes from public figures, past and present, who were born on April 5.
Pharrell Williams, rapper and songwriter (April 5, 1973–present)
“Collaborating with a musician is like a conversation: each experience is unique to that person.” —Pharrell Williams
Time Out. “Pharrell Williams Interview.” Time Out, November 21, 2016, https://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/music/pharrell-williams-interview.
“For me, I want to chase after a feeling, something that just feels good. And from there, lyrically, the music just sort of sets the template for the words. The feeling directs all creativity. The beat comes first. My job is just to listen to it, and let it tell me what should be fed lyrically, where the drums should go, where the melodies should go. It’s all by feel.” —Pharrell Williams
Time Out. “Pharrell Williams Interview.” Time Out, November 21, 2016, https://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/music/pharrell-williams-interview.
Agnetha Faltskog, singer (April 5, 1950–present)
“I have never felt like a stage personality. My strength lies in expressing emotions in the music.” —Agnetha Faltskog
Nord News. “Agnetha Faltskog: It is the guys who decide.” Nord News, November 4, 2021, https://nord.news/2021/11/04/agnetha-faltskog-it-is-the-guys-who-decide/.
Colin Powell, former secretary of state (April 5, 1937–October 18, 2021)
“Trump refuses to acknowledge that he wasn’t reelected. He has people who go along with him on that.” —Colin Powell
Porter, Tom. “Colin Powell in his final interview accused Trump of attempting to ‘overturn the government’ by inciting January 6 riot.” Insider, October 19, 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/colin-powell-last-interview-bashed-trump-over-capitol-riot-2021-10/.
“I’m the heir of a proud legacy of Black soldiers who went before me, the buffalo soldiers of the post-Civil War period, the Tuskegee Airmen. And what was put into me was that we served and sacrificed at a time when our nation was not prepared to serve us or sacrifice for us. But we made it. We got ahead. With each passing conflict, we demonstrated that we could do in combat just what our white brothers and sisters could do.” —Colin Powell
Gross, Terry. “‘Fresh Air’ remembers Colin Powell, former secretary of state.” NPR, October 18, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/10/18/1047023161/fresh-air-remembers-colin-powell-former-secretary-of-state.
Bette Davis, actor (April 5, 1908–October 6, 1989)
“As a child, I didn’t have a secure home and possessions. We were always moving. When I travel, I bring things from my home with me so I can establish a familiar relationship with my environment. Playing house is a childhood game I’ve never put away.” —Bette Davis
Chandler, Charlotte. “Bette Davis Sighs.” Vanity Fair, March 2006, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/af7d9cf6-e65c-4d9c-bd87-b3f7379f0c88?itm_content=footer-recirc.
“Do you want to know the secret of my success? Easy. Brown mascara. I always wear brown mascara. Fair actresses should never use black mascara if they want their eyes to show up. It’s the opposite of what they think—that black mascara will make them show up more.” —Bette Davis
Chandler, Charlotte. “Bette Davis Sighs.” Vanity Fair, March 2006, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/share/af7d9cf6-e65c-4d9c-bd87-b3f7379f0c88?itm_content=footer-recirc.
Booker T. Washington, educator and author (ca. April 5, 1856–November 14, 1915)
“Of my ancestry I know almost nothing. In the slave quarters, and even later, I heard whispered conversations among the coloured people of the tortures which the slaves, including, no doubt, my ancestors on my mother’s side, suffered in the middle passage of the slave ship while being conveyed from Africa to America.” —Booker T. Washington
Washington, Booker T. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of Up From Slavery: An Autobiography, by Booker T. Washington.” Project Gutenberg, February 7, 2013, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2376/2376-h/2376-h.htm.
“I was asked not long ago to tell something about the sports and pastimes that I engaged in during my youth. Until that question was asked it had never occurred to me that there was no period of my life that was devoted to play. From the time that I can remember anything, almost every day of my life had been occupied in some kind of labour; though I think I would now be a more useful man if I had had time for sports.” —Booker T. Washington
Washington, Booker T. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of Up From Slavery: An Autobiography, by Booker T. Washington.” Project Gutenberg, February 7, 2013, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2376/2376-h/2376-h.htm.
“I had no schooling whatever while I was a slave, though I remember on several occasions I went as far as the schoolhouse door with one of my young mistresses to carry her books. The picture of several dozen boys and girls in a schoolroom engaged in study made a deep impression upon me, and I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.” —Booker T. Washington
Washington, Booker T. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of Up From Slavery: An Autobiography, by Booker T. Washington.” Project Gutenberg, February 7, 2013, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2376/2376-h/2376-h.htm.
Thomas Hobbes, philosopher (April 5, 1588–December 4, 1679)
“The source of every Crime, is some defect of the Understanding; or some errour in Reasoning, or some sudden force of the Passions. Defect in the Understanding, is Ignorance; in Reasoning, Erroneous Opinion.” —Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes, Thomas. “The Project Gutenberg eBook of Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes.” Project Gutenberg, March 27, 2021, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm.
“In the nature of man, we find three principall causes of quarrel. First, Competition; Secondly, Diffidence; Thirdly, Glory.” —Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes, Thomas. “The Project Gutenberg eBook of Leviathan, by Thomas Hobbes.” Project Gutenberg, March 27, 2021, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3207/3207-h/3207-h.htm.
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