June 3: Notable Births, with Quotes
Explore memorable and revealing quotes from public figures, past and present, who were born on June 3.
Rafael Nadal, tennis player (June 3, 1986–present)
“I don’t think it changes that much to be No. 1 or No. 2 to be very honest with you. It is difficult to be up there and as I say the change is not much. Federer is always the main rival but also now Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.” —Rafael Nadal
Men’s Fitness Editors. “Rafael Nadal Talks Training, Staying Fit, and Winning Grand Slam Titles.” Men’s Journal, https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/rafael-nadal-talks-training-staying-fit-and-winning-grand-slam-titles/.
“If we are in the pre-season, the gym work is higher. During the season I don’t do much, I prefer to play tennis.” —Rafael Nadal
Men’s Fitness Editors. “Rafael Nadal Talks Training, Staying Fit, and Winning Grand Slam Titles.” Men’s Journal, https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/rafael-nadal-talks-training-staying-fit-and-winning-grand-slam-titles/.
Allen Ginsberg, poet and writer (June 3, 1926–April 5, 1997)
“I’ve never actually sat down and made a technical analysis of the rhythms that I write. They’re probably more near choriambic—Greek meters, dithyrambic meters—and tending toward de DA de de DA de de … what is that? Tending toward dactylic, probably.” —Allen Ginsberg
Clark, Tom. “Allen Ginsberg, The Art of Poetry No. 8.” The Paris Review, Spring 1966, https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4389/the-art-of-poetry-no-8-allen-ginsberg.
“Nobody’s got any objection to even iambic pentameter if it comes from a source deeper than the mind, that is to say if it comes from the breathing and the belly and the lungs.” —Allen Ginsberg
Clark, Tom. “Allen Ginsberg, The Art of Poetry No. 8.” The Paris Review, Spring 1966, https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4389/the-art-of-poetry-no-8-allen-ginsberg.
Tony Curtis, actor (June 3, 1925–September 29, 2010)
“The only friends I’ve got are the ones I met in my profession. And all the ones I liked a lot, they’re all dead. I never figured on that.” —Tony Curtis
Hainey, Michael. “Tony Curtis, The Last of the Playboys.” GQ, May 25, 2010, https://www.gq.com/story/tony-curtis-last-of-the-playboys.
“Jack Lemmon, Cary Grant, Burt Lancaster. They made me feel like I was a member of an elite group of men. I looked up to these guys because I saw in them the things I would like to see in myself. And by watching them, I saw how people did things—how to take a girl out for dinner, learn that the outside instruments were the ones you took first. Otherwise, I’d just lay there and say, ‘Why did they put them like that?’ By watching, I saw how people behaved.” —Tony Curtis
Hainey, Michael. “Tony Curtis, The Last of the Playboys.” GQ, May 25, 2010, https://www.gq.com/story/tony-curtis-last-of-the-playboys.
Josephine Baker, dancer and singer (June 3, 1906–April 12, 1975)
“I think a little differently. For me there is only one race: The human race.” —Josephine Baker
CBS News. “The legacy of Josephine Baker.” CBS News, December 5, 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-legacy-of-josephine-baker/.
“You know, friends, that I do not lie to you when I tell you I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents, and much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, ’cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world.” —Josephine Baker
CBS News. “The legacy of Josephine Baker.” CBS News, December 5, 2021, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-legacy-of-josephine-baker/.
Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States (June 3, 1808–December 6, 1889)
“Our present condition, achieved in a manner unprecedented in the history of nations, illustrates the American idea that governments rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish governments whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established.” —Jefferson Davis
Davis, Jefferson. “Jefferson Davis’ First Inaugural Address.” Rice University, February 18, 1861, https://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/archives/documents/jefferson-davis-first-inaugural-address.
“Through many years of controversy with our late associates, the Northern States, we have vainly endeavored to secure tranquillity, and to obtain respect for the rights to which we were entitled. As a necessity, not a choice, we have resorted to the remedy of separation; and henceforth our energies must be directed to the conduct of our own affairs, and the perpetuity of the Confederacy which we have formed.” —Jefferson Davis
Davis, Jefferson. “Jefferson Davis’ First Inaugural Address.” Rice University, February 18, 1861, https://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/archives/documents/jefferson-davis-first-inaugural-address.
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