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Motherhood Quote by Jill Scott

"When I was growing up, my mother would take me to plays and museums, and we'd talk about life. Those times helped shape who I became"

About this Quote

In Jill Scott's world, "culture" isn't a luxury add-on; it's a language you learn at home. The line starts with a deceptively simple memory - plays, museums, talking about life - then quietly flips the script on how we usually tell artist-origin stories. Instead of the myth of raw talent clawing its way out of nowhere, Scott centers a mother who actively curates a child's inner life. That choice matters. It frames art not as escapism but as training for attention, empathy, and self-definition.

The specificity does the heavy lifting. Plays and museums signal access, yes, but also intention: spaces where someone else's story is staged, interpreted, argued over. Then comes the real engine of the quote: "we'd talk about life". The art isn't the point by itself; the conversation is. Scott is sketching a model of parenting that treats a kid as a person with thoughts worth developing, not just managing. It hints at a household where feelings get named, where contradictions are allowed, where imagination isn't dismissed as impractical.

There's subtext, too, about lineage and protection. For a Black woman artist navigating an industry that often flattens complexity into a marketable vibe, this memory reads like a receipt: I didn't arrive here by accident, and I didn't invent myself alone. It's a quiet rebuttal to the lonely-genius narrative, and a reminder that becoming "who I became" is rarely an individual act. It's community, in miniature, with a mother as the first producer.

Quote Details

TopicMother
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Scott, Jill. (2026, January 16). When I was growing up, my mother would take me to plays and museums, and we'd talk about life. Those times helped shape who I became. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-i-was-growing-up-my-mother-would-take-me-to-118908/

Chicago Style
Scott, Jill. "When I was growing up, my mother would take me to plays and museums, and we'd talk about life. Those times helped shape who I became." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-i-was-growing-up-my-mother-would-take-me-to-118908/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When I was growing up, my mother would take me to plays and museums, and we'd talk about life. Those times helped shape who I became." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-i-was-growing-up-my-mother-would-take-me-to-118908/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Jill Scott (born April 4, 1972) is a Musician from USA.

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