25 Born A Crime Quotes For A Changing World

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published August 20, 2023

If you are a fan of Trevor Noah, you are sure to love our Born A Crime quotes.

Trevor Noah has taken the world by storm with his brilliant stand-up, amazing journalism, and refreshing take on life.

Find out what inspires this hilarious comedian and why he wrote his powerful memoir with our Born A Crime quotes below.

Who is Trevor Noah?

Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, television host, author, and actor.

He is most known for his time hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central.

Check out these interesting Trevor Noah facts below:

Trevor originates from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Noah won a prime-time Emmy and was nominated fifteen times.
Noah is one of six people to host The Grammys at least three times.

What is Born A Crime?

Born A Crime is a book written by Trevor Noah.

The book explores his upbringing in South Africa and chronicles the life lessons he learned on his ascent to stardom.

The book honors the efforts of his mother, who he credits with providing him with wisdom, tolerance, and the drive for more.

One of his powerful statements is “A kid cannot dream of being an astronaut if he does not know about space.”

Noah explains how his mother exposed him to various aspects of life, even the difficult ones.

His mother believed that any subject could be explained and should not be ignored.

She felt that with context and dialogue, a person can learn to become strong and overcome challenges.

Noah never let anything hold him back and he says his mother is the reason for his motivation.

Why does the narrative in Born A Crime matter?

People in the United States look at the fifties and sixties as a long-ago era where racial segregation was legal.

Many Americans are unaware that South African apartheid was very similar to Jim Crow segregation.

South African apartheid ended in the 1990s!

Trevor Noah’s story of ascending challenging conditions is an essential read for anybody looking to overcome difficult odds.

To learn more, check out our Born A Crime quotes below.

Short Born A Crime quotes to live by

Let’s start our list with these wise quotes and observations about life from Trevor Noah.

1. “Love is a creative act.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

2. “Relationships are built in the silences.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

3. “Learn from your past and be better because of your past.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

4. “Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

5. “A kid cannot dream of being an astronaut if he does not know about space.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

The top Born A Crime quotes about regret

In these quotes, Trevor opens up about his relationship with regret. “Regret is the thing we should fear most.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

6. “Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

7. “Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

8. “We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

9. “I don’t regret anything I’ve ever done in life, any choice that I’ve made.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

10. “I’m consumed with regret for the things I didn’t do, the choices I didn’t make, the things I didn’t say.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

The best Born A Crime quotes honoring strong mothers

Trevor is always very vocal about how his mother’s strength raised him.

11. “My mom did what school didn’t. She taught me how to think.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

12. “When you love someone, you create a new world for them. My mother did that for me.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

13. “I was blessed with another trait I inherited from my mother, her ability to forget the pain in life.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

14. “Whilst my mother couldn’t give me access to the world, she at least made sure to let me know it existed.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

15. “My mother wanted her child beholden to no fate. She wanted me to be free to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

Famous Born A Crime quotes about crime and discrimination

Here Trevor breaks down how crime impacts society.

16. “Crime is grassroots.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

17. “Crime looks for the young kids who need support and a lifting hand.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

18. “Crime gets involved in the community. Crime doesn’t discriminate.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

19. “Crime offers internship programmes and part-time jobs and opportunities for advancement.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

20. “The hood made me realise that crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn’t do: crime cares.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

Born A Crime quotes and sayings about language

Here are some quotes that remind us why Trevor is passionate about the power of language.

21. “I lived inside my head. I still live inside my head.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

22. “Language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

23. “In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don’t see the person it affects.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

24. “Nelson Mandela once said, If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

25. “When you make the effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s just basic phrases here and there, you are saying to them, ‘I understand that you have a culture and identity that exists beyond me. I see you as a human being.” — Trevor Noah, Born A Crime

Dream Big!

Born A Crime is a book about following your dreams.

In the book, Noah shares the following:

“We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.”