“I just had my 30th birthday and we went turkey shooting. It's what I wanted to do, so we went.”
Birthdays are milestones disguised as parties. These quotes capture the joy, nostalgia, and mild existential crisis that can all show up when you add another number. Good for cards, toasts, or just sitting with the strangeness of getting older.
“I want a chainsaw very badly, because I think cutting down a tree would be unbelievably satisfying. I have asked for a chainsaw for my birthday, but I think I'll probably be given jewelry instead.”
“I just had my 30th birthday and we went turkey shooting. It's what I wanted to do, so we went.”
“You know, we'd just had a birthday, he was... you know, he still had a future out of him, and all I can is he was just one of the most beautiful people in the world... a very gifted man, and it's a loss to the world, not just for us.”
“A gift, with a kind countenance, is a double present.”
“I trained to be a priest - started to. I went to seminary school when I was 11. I wanted to be a priest, but when they told me I could never have sex, not even on my birthday, I changed my mind.”
“Your children need your presence more than your presents.”
“In 1993 my birthday present was a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.”
“Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.”
“I saw Richard Linklater's film 'Slacker' for my twenty-first birthday. That was the moment when it all seemed possible. This guy gave me hope.”
“Citizens, thank you for all your birthday wishes. I am 88 years old today and still lucky to live in the greatest city in the world.”
“My mom won't let me buy high-fashion stuff unless it's TK Maxx or a birthday occasion.”
“John Candy knew he was going to die. He told me on his 40th birthday. He said, well, Maureen, I'm on borrowed time.”
“Since graduation, I have measured time in 4-by-5-inch pieces of paper, four days on the left and three on the right. Every social engagement, interview, reading, flight, doctor's appointment, birthday and dry-cleaning reminder has been handwritten between metal loops.”
“A friend never defends a husband who gets his wife an electric skillet for her birthday.”
“My second play, The Birthday Party, I wrote in 1958 - or 1957. It was totally destroyed by the critics of the day, who called it an absolute load of rubbish.”
“You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.”