--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I rowed for Cambridge. I was pretty good…" description: "\"I rowed for Cambridge. I was pretty good at that.\" — Hugh Laurie" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/hugh-laurie-2413_cambridge_i-rowed-for-cambridge-i-was-pretty-good_2295968.png" --- # I rowed for Cambridge. I was pretty good at that. ![“I rowed for Cambridge. I was pretty good at that.” quote by Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/hugh-laurie-2413_cambridge_i-rowed-for-cambridge-i-was-pretty-good_2295968.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/hugh-laurie-2413_cambridge_i-rowed-for-cambridge-i-was-pretty-good_2295968.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5f/hugh-laurie-2413_cambridge_i-rowed-for-cambridge-i-was-pretty-good_2295968.png) > “I rowed for Cambridge. I was pretty good at that.” [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He humorously claims his rowing skill was notable in Cambridge. **In simple terms:** He boasts about rowing at Cambridge. Key Takeaway Acknowledge your strengths with humor. Themes humor confidence self‑deprecation Mood playful lighthearted Type anecdotal entertaining When to use this quote - college sports - teamwork - personal anecdotes Key Concepts personal narrative light‑heartedness Questions to Reflect On - What personal achievements do you share humorously? - How does humor affect self‑image? A Different Perspective Humor may downplay actual competence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cambridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cambridge/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Rowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rowing/) ## Related quotes > [Anyone who has not rowed in a really close Boat Race cannot comprehend the level of the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-topolski/anyone-who-has-not-rowed-in-a-really-close-boat-race-cannot/) [Daniel Topolski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-topolski/) > [...well this US eight, with all its material occupying every seat just would not go fast. They rowed their hearts out but it never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-topolski/well-this-us-eight-with-all-its-material-occupying-every-seat-just/) [Daniel Topolski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-topolski/) > [Anyone who has not rowed in a really close boatrace cannot comprehend the level of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-topolski/anyone-who-has-not-rowed-in-a-really-close-boatrace-cannot-comprehend/) [Daniel Topolski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-topolski/) > [Things got a bit toxic towards the end of our marriage, but we never really rowed and Ray was a huge support when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleen-nolan/things-got-a-bit-toxic-towards-the-end-of-our-marriage-but-we-never/) [Coleen Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleen-nolan/) > [What mattered more than how hard a man rowed was how well everything he did in the boat harmonized with what the other fellows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-james-brown/what-mattered-more-than-how-hard-a-man-rowed-was-how-well-everything/) [Daniel James Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-james-brown/) > [“Trousers rolled to the knee but still they got wet. They tied the rope to a cleat at the rear of the boat and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/trousers-rolled-to-the-knee-but-still-they-got-wet-they-tied-the-rope/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [I grew up in New England at the edge of the Atlantic and have for many years been an avid rower. I've rowed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/i-grew-up-in-new-england-at-the-edge-of-the-atlantic-and-have-for/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [“Choose men who have rowed together before, if you’re wise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/choose-men-who-have-rowed-together-before-if-you-re-wise/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Winning a rowing race is not like winning anything else. Here's my theory: you're facing backwards, so you're looking at the people you're beating--and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/winning-a-rowing-race-is-not-like-winning-anything-else-here-s-my/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [When I was at Cambridge in the early fifties, there was a school nearby for training Army officers in Russian, and some imaginative genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/when-i-was-at-cambridge-in-the-early-fifties-there-was-a-school/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) > [But she has gathered that Americans, in spite of their public declarations of affection, in spite of their miniskirts and bikinis, in spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/but-she-has-gathered-that-americans-in-spite-of-their-public/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [Cambridge was the place for someone from the Colonies or the Dominions to go on to, and it was to the Cavendish Laboratory that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-klug/cambridge-was-the-place-for-someone-from-the-colonies-or-the/) [Aaron Klug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-klug/) > [The use of data for political purposes wasn't invented by Cambridge Analytica.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-kaiser/the-use-of-data-for-political-purposes-wasn-t-invented-by-cambridge/) [Brittany Kaiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittany-kaiser/) > [If your memory was OK you could descend upon on a bookshop – a big enough one so that the staff wouldn’t hassle a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-spufford/if-your-memory-was-ok-you-could-descend-upon-on-a-bookshop-a-big/) [Francis Spufford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-spufford/) > [I spent two years in Palo Alto - what an awful, suffocating place for those of us who don't care about yoga, yogurts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/i-spent-two-years-in-palo-alto-what-an-awful-suffocating-place-for/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) ## More by Hugh Laurie > [“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-i-think-in-life-to-wait-until-you-re-ready-i/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [Ideas are 10 a penny. It's the execution that's the hard thing to do. House is standing up against a tide of sentiment and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/ideas-are-10-a-penny-it-s-the-execution-that-s-the-hard-thing-to-do/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [To be a head boy, you have to be very clever, you have to be a scholar, and I was never a scholar in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/to-be-a-head-boy-you-have-to-be-very-clever-you-have-to-be-a-scholar/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [To me, he's a hero, ... He's not polite. He's not someone you want to take home to meet your mother, necessarily. 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And then another.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/we-want-different-things-men-want-to-have-sex-with-a-woman-then-they/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I travel to work on my motorcycle, so it's jeans, boots and a brown Aero leather jacket that weighs as much as I do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-travel-to-work-on-my-motorcycle-so-it-s-jeans-boots-and-a-brown/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I just read an 800-page history of the Scottish Enlightenment and, honestly, I may as well just start it again now, because I cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-just-read-an-800-page-history-of-the-scottish-enlightenment-and/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [The only good thing I've ever noticed about money, the only positive aspect of an otherwise pretty vulgar commodity, is that you can use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/the-only-good-thing-i-ve-ever-noticed-about-money-the-only-positive/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“Plus laid aussi qu'un parking”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/plus-laid-aussi-qu-un-parking/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [I was too shy, I think, to sing publicly. It takes a particular kind of person. 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Because I'd been in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/at-one-time-in-the-mid-70s-i-became-the-president-of-the-boston/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [Having little money to spend was a valuable learning experience. My schooling also shaped my work ethic because while other children were listening to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-idle/having-little-money-to-spend-was-a-valuable-learning-experience-my/) [Eric Idle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-idle/) > [I did not enjoy Cambridge. But I shouldn't blame Cambridge alone. I wasn't ready for university or for the wrench of leaving home. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomie-harris/i-did-not-enjoy-cambridge-but-i-shouldn-t-blame-cambridge-alone-i/) [Naomie Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomie-harris/) > [I was not proficient in Latin and so was not able to go to Oxford or Cambridge. However, I did enter the first-rate chemistry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-smith/i-was-not-proficient-in-latin-and-so-was-not-able-to-go-to-oxford-or/) [Michael Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-smith/) > [The great thing about writing about the ancient Spartans or Athenians is that so much knowledge is no longer extant that no one, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-great-thing-about-writing-about-the-ancient-spartans-or-athenians/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [I did not end up as broadly educated as my Cambridge colleagues, but I graduated probably better equipped to write a book on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-did-not-end-up-as-broadly-educated-as-my-cambridge-colleagues-but-i/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I suppose my little Martin acoustic guitar is quickly becoming a prize possession. It's a lovely guitar. 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