The Quotebook
On Bristol and his father.
The city he came from, and Elias Leach, who is in more of these lines than anyone.
He left Bristol at sixteen and never disguised where he came from. His father, a tailor's presser, recurs in the record more often than any other figure.
The lines.
9 quotationsVerified
“I was born in the provincial city of Bristol, England, but have avidly frequented the brightest capitals of the world ever since, and now keep a permanent residence in the so-called, though misnamed, glamour capital of Hollywood.”
Cary Grant · 1963 · memoir · Ladies' Home Journal
Describing his origins at the start of the autobiography.
Ladies' Home Journal, autobiographical series, 1963.
Verified
“My father made no more than a modest living and we had little money. Yet today I am considered, except among the wealthy, to be wealthy.”
Cary Grant · 1963 · memoir · Ladies' Home Journal
On the distance between his Bristol childhood and his later fortune.
Ladies' Home Journal, autobiographical series, 1963.
Disputed
“I was a failure as a boy and became a success as a man because I always was and always will be Archibald Alexander Leach, only I became better at hiding it than he ever could.”
Attributed
“Ah, beware of snobbery; it is the unwelcome recognition of one’s own past failings.”
Verified
“I’ve spent the greater part of my life fluctuating between Archie Leach and Cary Grant, unsure of each, suspecting each.”
Cary Grant · 1963 · memoir · Ladies' Home Journal
From his autobiographical writing on identity and the invented self.
Ladies' Home Journal, autobiographical series, 1963.
Attributed
“When I was a boy, I could not afford a bicycle. Now I could buy a hundred, and I want none of them.”
Verified
“My father used to say, let them see you and not the suit. That should be secondary.”
Verified
“I’m reminded of a piece of advice my father gave me regarding shoes: it’s better to buy one good pair of shoes than four cheap ones.”
Attributed
“When I go to see her, the minute I get there I start clearing my throat.”