15 famous quotes that perfectly capture life in Yorkshire

Yorkshire is famed for its glorious hilly landscape, rich heritage and friendly folk, but arguably it is its humble, down-to-earth charm that makes the county stand out.
Yorkshire is famed for its beautiful landscape and friendly, down-to-earth folkYorkshire is famed for its beautiful landscape and friendly, down-to-earth folk
Yorkshire is famed for its beautiful landscape and friendly, down-to-earth folk

From wandering the Dales to take in the natural beauty, or enjoying simpler life pleasures like a good chip butty, here are a few famous quotes which capture life in God's Own County and the proud Yorkshire spirit.

"I am Batley and Spen born and bred, and I could not be prouder of that. I am proud that I was made in Yorkshire, and I am proud of the things we make in Yorkshire. Britain should be proud of that, too." - Jo Cox

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"My dream is to own a Hockney - I'm a Yorkshireman, and his vibrant colours are a good example of how the north-country people are vibrant and colourful." - Brian Blessed

Labour MP Jo Cox spoke highly of her home countyLabour MP Jo Cox spoke highly of her home county
Labour MP Jo Cox spoke highly of her home county

"I’m extremely fortunate that I live in an area that inspires me to train and enjoy it. The same view that I’ve seen a million times never fails to amaze me and the scenery changes with the seasons and the weather. I’m convinced that the characters also make it a very special place.” - Alistair Brownlee

"East Yorkshire, to the unitiated, just looks like a lot of little hills. But it does have these marvellous valleys that were caused by glaciers, not rivers. So it is unusual." - David Hockney

"I would have died for Yorkshire. I suppose once or twice I nearly did." Brian Close

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I come from Yorkshire in England where we like to eat chip sandwiches - white bread, butter, tomato ketchup and big fat french fries cooked in beef dripping." - Helen Fielding

Labour MP Jo Cox spoke highly of her home countyLabour MP Jo Cox spoke highly of her home county
Labour MP Jo Cox spoke highly of her home county

"As a child growing up in a grey-skied Yorkshire village, I would occasionally happen upon a Bollywood movie on the television. After a few minutes watching a bunch of sari-clad dancers cavorting on a Swiss mountain to tuneless music, I would switch over to some proper drama about housing estates and single mothers." - Simon Beaufoy

"I have had an amazingly fortunate life. I'm a child from Yorkshire, which is sort of like Cleveland without the pretty bits." - Jeremy Clarkson

"Yorkshire folk are not fools." - Jo Cox

"You have to have a bag of Yorkshire tea bags. It is the best tea that England has to offer and that comes with me everywhere I go." - Felicity Jones

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"The word 'the' has not reached this area. Because we have it in the south - it's freely used. I don't know where it is, somewhere at about Junction 25 of the M1, the word 'the' just stops at services and says, 'I can go no further. I'm going to stay here with my friends 'nothing' and 'something'. They can just go 't like that." - Michael McIntyre

"People from Yorkshire are very proud of their underachievement. You see these old fellas in the pub going: 'I've had a great life, me. Gone nowhere. Done fuck all. Aye." -

Paul Tonkinson

"Once bitten twice shy, and several times bitten, then you make a rule about it. People from Yorkshire, we have found, are dour and nurse a grudge. One thing you can't put up with on expeditions are people who search for trouble, then nurse it when they have found it." - Sir Ranulph Fiennes

"Yorkshire people are first and foremost friendly and we do things without much fanfare. We are understated and love the countryside here. One of the special things about Yorkshire is that a lot has not changed. You can go to the Dales and, apart from the fact there are now more cars, they’ve not changed for 20 years and you go back after another 20 and there’s still no change." - Alistair Brownlee

"It is a Yorkshire habit to say what you think with blunt frankness." Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden