May 5: Notable Births, with Quotes

Explore memorable and revealing quotes from public figures, past and present, who were born on May 5.

Michael Palin, comedian and actor (May 5, 1943–present)

“I always found that my travels gave me a different perspective and a much wider perspective, away from the west as a centre of the world’s ideas, and to see your own country and your own people from a different perspective. Remember, we are all members of the human race.” —Michael Palin
Bryan, Scott. “Around the world in seven journeys: Michael Palin on his favourite trips.” The Guardian, October 2, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/02/michael-palin-on-his-favourite-trips.

“There’s never anything as good as the first time for travel, the first time you see something. There is something about that first moment, that moment of surprise and wonder.” —Michael Palin
Bryan, Scott. “Around the world in seven journeys: Michael Palin on his favourite trips.” The Guardian, October 2, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/02/michael-palin-on-his-favourite-trips.

James Beard, chef and author (May 5, 1903–January 21, 1985)

“In my twenty-five years of teaching I have tried to make people realize that cooking is primarily fun and that the more they know about what they are doing, the more fun it is.” —James Beard
Beard, James. “James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.” Running Press, October 17, 1999.

“When you cook, you never stop learning. That’s the fascination of it.” —James Beard
Beard, James. “James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking.” Running Press, October 17, 1999.

Nellie Bly, journalist (May 5, 1864–January 27, 1922)

“What a mysterious thing madness is. I have watched patients whose lips are forever sealed in a perpetual silence. They live, breathe, eat; the human form is there, but that something, which the body can live without, but which cannot exist without the body, was missing.” —Nellie Bly
Bly, Nellie. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ten Days in a Mad-House.” Project Gutenberg, July 10, 2019, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59899/59899-h/59899-h.htm.

“How can a doctor judge a woman’s sanity by merely bidding her good morning and refusing to hear her pleas for release?” —Nellie Bly
Bly, Nellie. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ten Days in a Mad-House.” Project Gutenberg, July 10, 2019, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59899/59899-h/59899-h.htm.

Karl Marx, philosopher and economist (May 5, 1818–March 14, 1883)

“The modern history of capital dates from the creation in the 16th century of a world-embracing commerce and a world-embracing market.” —Karl Marx
Marx, Karl. “Capital.” Progress Publishers, Moscow, USSR, 1887, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch04.htm.

“Of all the great motors handed down from the manufacturing period, horse-power is the worst, partly because a horse has a head of his own, partly because he is costly, and the extent to which he is applicable in factories is very restricted.” —Karl Marx
Marx, Karl. “Capital.” Progress Publishers, Moscow, USSR, 1887, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch15.htm.

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