--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I started when I was 15 years old. And at…" description: "\"I started when I was 15 years old. And at that time, I was not thinking about changing the world, I was doing graffiti - writing my name everywhere, us..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/jr-13628_about_i-started-when-i-was-15-years-old-and-at_181052.png" --- # I started when I was 15 years old. And at that time, I was… ![“I started when I was 15 years old. And at that time, I was not thinking about changing the world, I was doing graffiti - writing my name everywhere, using the city as a canvas. I was going in the tunnels of Paris, on the rooftops with my friends. Each trip was an excursion, was an adventure.” quote by JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/jr-13628_about_i-started-when-i-was-15-years-old-and-at_181052.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/jr-13628_about_i-started-when-i-was-15-years-old-and-at_181052.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8c/jr-13628_about_i-started-when-i-was-15-years-old-and-at_181052.png) > “I started when I was 15 years old. And at that time, I was not thinking about changing the world, I was doing graffiti - writing my name everywhere, using the city as a canvas. I was going in the tunnels of Paris, on the rooftops with my friends. Each trip was an excursion, was an adventure.” [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on youthful rebellion and adventure, noting that early creative acts were personal expression rather than deliberate world‑changing goals. **In simple terms:** Youthful graffiti was personal fun, not activism. Key Takeaway Channel youthful energy into purposeful action. Themes self‑expression adventure growth Mood reflective energetic Type memoir inspirational When to use this quote - street art - travel - friendship - urban exploration Key Concepts creativity risk‑taking personal development Questions to Reflect On - How can early passions be redirected toward positive impact? - What lessons did those adventures teach? A Different Perspective Risk of glorifying illegal activity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [About](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/about/) [Adventure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adventure/) [Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) [Changing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing/) [Changing the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-the-world/) [City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city/) [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Doing Graffiti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-graffiti-940093/) [Each](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/each/) [Everywhere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everywhere/) [Excursion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excursion-58845/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going/) [Graffiti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graffiti/) [Graffiti Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/graffiti-writing-1361672/) [Name](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/name/) [Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old/) [Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paris/) [Rooftops](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rooftops/) [Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started/) [Started 15](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started-15-504887/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trip/) [Using](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/using/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [I know about hip-hop culture, whether it's graffiti writing or DJ-ing or being an MC.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-peck/i-know-about-hip-hop-culture-whether-it-s-graffiti-writing-or-dj-ing/) [Josh Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-peck/) > [My mom is a painter, so I've been doing drawings and paintings as early as I can remember. Then there was this gap where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-monopoly/my-mom-is-a-painter-so-i-ve-been-doing-drawings-and-paintings-as/) [Alec Monopoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-monopoly/) > [I did an art show for Donald Trump at his house in Palm Beach, Florida. It was a bunch of pop art and stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-monopoly/i-did-an-art-show-for-donald-trump-at-his-house-in-palm-beach-florida/) [Alec Monopoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-monopoly/) > [I didn't start doing graffiti until two years after I got to New York. Jean Michel Basquiat was one of my main inspirations for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/i-didn-t-start-doing-graffiti-until-two-years-after-i-got-to-new-york/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [I got caught doing graffiti with my friend in broad daylight once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-tracy/i-got-caught-doing-graffiti-with-my-friend-in-broad-daylight-once/) [Lil Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-tracy/) > [I had just been doing graffiti around New York and this real estate investor guy had walked through meat packing in New York and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-monopoly/i-had-just-been-doing-graffiti-around-new-york-and-this-real-estate/) [Alec Monopoly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-monopoly/) > [I was the youngest in the world in history when I started, 15. That's illegal now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-piper/i-was-the-youngest-in-the-world-in-history-when-i-started-15-that-s/) [Roddy Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-piper/) > [I got started when I was about 15, or 16. My first break through was the Vans song with my group The Pack. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/i-got-started-when-i-was-about-15-or-16-my-first-break-through-was/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [When I started at 15, I never thought about winning nine Commonwealth Games medals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhinav-bindra/when-i-started-at-15-i-never-thought-about-winning-nine-commonwealth/) [Abhinav Bindra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhinav-bindra/) > [With me and Bill... I think we started out with $15 apiece and split the other $20 between the band.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-hatfield/with-me-and-bill-i-think-we-started-out-with-15-apiece-and-split-the/) [Bobby Hatfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-hatfield/) > [I don't surf here as much as I would in Hawaii, but it's fun. You've got to want it more in New York, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-mock/i-don-t-surf-here-as-much-as-i-would-in-hawaii-but-it-s-fun-you-ve/) [Evan Mock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-mock/) > [“Don't go off sightseeing. The real journey is right here. The great excursion starts from exactly where you are. You are the world. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jalaluddin-rumi/don-t-go-off-sightseeing-the-real-journey-is-right-here-the-great/) [Jalaluddin Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jalaluddin-rumi/) > [The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/the-excursion-is-the-same-when-you-go-looking-for-your-sorrow-as-when/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I had been sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, and the track…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sturt/i-had-no-inducement-to-proceed-further-into-the-interior-i-had-been/) [Charles Sturt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sturt/) > [The problem with fine art is that in most cases people have to make a special excursion to go and look at it: they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/the-problem-with-fine-art-is-that-in-most-cases-people-have-to-make-a/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## More by JR > [How Can You Call Yoursef Real If You Dont Understand What Real Is. In My Opinion I Feel That Real' Is A Fact And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/how-can-you-call-yoursef-real-if-you-dont-understand-what-real-is-in/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [If there's one thing I've always taken care of with my work, it's that it's never an advertisement for anything other than the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/if-there-s-one-thing-i-ve-always-taken-care-of-with-my-work-it-s-that/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [When you're in New York, people don't say, 'We're happy you came to New York.' In D.C., people thank you for coming here and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/when-you-re-in-new-york-people-don-t-say-we-re-happy-you-came-to-new/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [The real art is in the street, is making the artwork, and for that you have to involve people. The action is actually the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/the-real-art-is-in-the-street-is-making-the-artwork-and-for-that-you/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [Can art change the world? Maybe ... we should change the question: Can art change people's lives?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/can-art-change-the-world-maybe-we-should-change-the-question-can-art/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [An artist should be taking risks. That's the whole idea of being an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/an-artist-should-be-taking-risks-that-s-the-whole-idea-of-being-an/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [Most of the time, people look at a piece of art online when it is just a few blocks from their house. Changing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/most-of-the-time-people-look-at-a-piece-of-art-online-when-it-is-just/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [Anything worth having is worth going for- all the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/anything-worth-having-is-worth-going-for-all-the-way/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [Like my daddy always said, where there's a way, there's a will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/like-my-daddy-always-said-where-there-s-a-way-there-s-a-will/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [I've always been so surprised by how people interpret my photos in context.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/i-ve-always-been-so-surprised-by-how-people-interpret-my-photos-in/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [The more social media we have, the more we think we're connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/the-more-social-media-we-have-the-more-we-think-we-re-connecting-yet/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [Revenge is the single most satisfying feeling in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/revenge-is-the-single-most-satisfying-feeling-in-the-world/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [The key to long term success in the marketplace is to build relationships & acquire leadership skills that can build great teams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/the-key-to-long-term-success-in-the-marketplace-is-to-build/) [JR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jr/) > [A conscience is like a boat or a car. 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That means I write about guys - so far. I'm interested in the people closest to them, the people they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-write-about-presidents-that-means-i-write-about-guys-so-far-i-m/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [That's something a lot of folks don't know about me - I'm pretty darn funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/that-s-something-a-lot-of-folks-don-t-know-about-me-i-m-pretty-darn/) [Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/) > [I learned a lot about myself at Oakmont.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-lowry/i-learned-a-lot-about-myself-at-oakmont/) [Shane Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-lowry/) > [I don't think about the press or the crowds or the other leaders of the race. The focus is only on myself. 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