Jimmy Barnes Quotes

My father was a Jewish immigrant who settled in Argentina and was left to his own devices at the age of 15. My mother was a teacher, herself the daughter of a poor immigrant family.

When I came to Australia, it was like heaven.

I grew up believing in meritocracy and the American dream. My parents came here from India. They had no connections. My brother and I went to public schools, and both of us succeeded.

America is remarkable, don't you think so? When I came to Washington, I was twelve years old. I spoke English with an English accent. It was assumed that it would go on in that way.

As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant, and what gave me the opportunities, what made me to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I have been adopted by America.

It's always overwhelming when you come to another country and you're embraced in such a positive way.

I remember reading 'The Grapes of Wrath' in high school in 1983. My family had immigrated to the U.S. three years before, and I had spent the better part of the first two years learning English. John Steinbeck's book was the first book I read in English where I had an 'Aha!' moment, namely in the famed turtle chapter.

Whatever country you go to, you need to definitely follow the rules. So I believe it's very important for people, wherever they go, any immigrant should know or should try to learn something about the culture.

I remember, the first time I came to the United States in 1996, I didn't speak a word of English at the beginning. I am very thankful for this country and the opportunity music has given me... My three kids were born here in Miami; they speak Spanish at home, but English with all their friends.

I see with joy the Irish emigrants landing at Boston, at New York, and say to myself, There they go—to school.

A familiar question for Australians is how much we are a product of our circumstances, and how much we are what we have made ourselves to be. In truth, by the act of migration the country was made: by that voluntary act and by the emigrants' ambitions it was built.

My parents moved to England with that immigrant ethos of self-betterment, but I don't think they expected the kind of grief they experienced.

I certainly have no regret living in the U.S. The quality of life in Australia is good, but it is bloody good here as well.

As an immigrant, I learned by watching other people.

Never far from my thoughts are memories of being a little girl in Queens, N.Y., our family of five crowded in a small one-bedroom apartment, struggling to learn English and survive a new life in a new country, America. We humbly and gratefully still recall the kindnesses shown by strangers and neighbors who became new friends.

I never take for granted how great Australia is and how well I have been treated here, so thank you for this chance at making a good life.

I know that if I have come to Britain, I must adapt, and I will try to.

I can't tell you how many times I get into a taxicab in New York or Los Angeles, and I'm talking to somebody who is a recent immigrant who was a doctor or lawyer or engineer or professor in the country they just came from. They're starting over again in life, and I think the majority of people out there can relate to that.

The first season in a new country like England is very difficult.

I always have been grateful for the opportunity being in this country and to develop my game and go to college.

We didn't have shoes until we came over to America.

My parents immigrated to this country from Jamaica with no more than a fifth-grade education.

I saw so many opportunities in the U.S. because I knew that I could make a living doing things I could never do in Romania.

I was almost 8 when my mother bravely brought her children to this country so we could have a chance at a better life.

My parents didn't get to have a dream. Their dream was to live in a country where their kids would have choice.