---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think my parents were immigrants, you…"
description: "\"I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I would be first generation. Growing up in California.\" — Phillip Lim"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png"
---

#  I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I…

![“I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I would be first generation. Growing up in California.” quote by Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png)

> “I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I would be first generation. Growing up in California.”

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Being a first‑generation immigrant shapes identity, blending heritage with the culture of one’s upbringing.

**In simple terms:** First‑gen background blends cultures.

Key Takeaway

Embrace dual heritage.

Themes

identity heritage assimilation

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

personal cultural

When to use this quote

- fashion design
- marketing
- personal branding
- community outreach

Key Concepts

cultural hybridity generational perspective

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your background influence your work?
- What challenges arise from dual identity?

A Different Perspective

Balancing two cultures can cause internal conflict.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[California](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/california/) [Generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Immigrants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immigrants/) [Immigration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immigration/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/)

## Related quotes

> [All one needs to do is just to go to any hospital in America and see the number of Pakistani or Indian or Lebanese,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/all-one-needs-to-do-is-just-to-go-to-any-hospital-in-america-and-see/)

[Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/)

> [I think my parents, being immigrants, wanted us to try new things. They would never be the ones to be like, 'Just focus on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iman-vellani/i-think-my-parents-being-immigrants-wanted-us-to-try-new-things-they/)

[Iman Vellani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iman-vellani/)

> [If you want to find a way to keep illegal immigrants, you know where they are, you give them a driver's license. It helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-richardson/if-you-want-to-find-a-way-to-keep-illegal-immigrants-you-know-where/)

[Bill Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-richardson/)

> [I was a very sickly child. My parents were immigrants. They were not decorous. They were not discreet. They always thought I was gonna…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/i-was-a-very-sickly-child-my-parents-were-immigrants-they-were-not/)

[Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/)

> [My parents were immigrants from Pakistan. My father has passed away now, but my father and mother were very proud of Britain, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid-javid/my-parents-were-immigrants-from-pakistan-my-father-has-passed-away/)

[Sajid Javid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid-javid/)

> [My parents were immigrants. And the place for all immigrants was the factories. They were the source of cheap labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kirby/my-parents-were-immigrants-and-the-place-for-all-immigrants-was-the/)

[Jack Kirby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kirby/)

> [My parents are immigrants to this country. They came to this country for a better opportunity just like everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amine/my-parents-are-immigrants-to-this-country-they-came-to-this-country/)

[Amine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amine/)

> [I don't look back, I just go forward. I'm just proud of the fact that my parents were immigrants and we had nearly nothing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-oz/i-don-t-look-back-i-just-go-forward-i-m-just-proud-of-the-fact-that/)

[Frank Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-oz/)

> [Both my parents are immigrants. I've seen different struggles they've had. There's a reason you don't see me using accents. I don't do impressions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kondabolu/both-my-parents-are-immigrants-i-ve-seen-different-struggles-they-ve/)

[Hari Kondabolu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kondabolu/)

> [Academics were important to my parents, as immigrants. Education is where it all begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-zellweger/academics-were-important-to-my-parents-as-immigrants-education-is/)

[Renee Zellweger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-zellweger/)

> [I'm Cuban. My parents are immigrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-diaz/i-m-cuban-my-parents-are-immigrants/)

[Guillermo Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-diaz/)

> [I'm most proud of my kids, for one, and my family and my parents. Outside of that - what am I proud of? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-oz/i-m-most-proud-of-my-kids-for-one-and-my-family-and-my-parents/)

[Frank Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-oz/)

> [“Lady and gentleman, when my parents left Korea with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the considerable wealth they had amassed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/lady-and-gentleman-when-my-parents-left-korea-with-nothing-but-the/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [So I've got mates I've known since I was five years old. Their children know my children. There's something really lovely about it. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ainsley-harriott/so-i-ve-got-mates-i-ve-known-since-i-was-five-years-old-their/)

[Ainsley Harriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ainsley-harriott/)

> [I saw my parents, as immigrants, try and try and try to take root and get ahead and so yes, 'Sweat' resonates with me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-alban/i-saw-my-parents-as-immigrants-try-and-try-and-try-to-take-root-and/)

[Carlo Alban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-alban/)

## More by Phillip Lim

> [You can make jeans and a t-shirt super stylish. It's what you make of it, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/you-can-make-jeans-and-a-t-shirt-super-stylish-it-s-what-you-make-of/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I try to always have flowers in the house. I have a florist in Chinatown, and they deliver orchids every two weeks. I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-try-to-always-have-flowers-in-the-house-i-have-a-florist-in/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I'm really a classicist at heart - with a bit of madness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-m-really-a-classicist-at-heart-with-a-bit-of-madness/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I always try to appreciate the most fleeting moments. The idea of the acrobats constantly tumbling and trying to adjust - I think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-always-try-to-appreciate-the-most-fleeting-moments-the-idea-of-the/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [There is a secret hippie within me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/there-is-a-secret-hippie-within-me/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I started in college as a business major and finally transferred to home economics and studied making clothes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-started-in-college-as-a-business-major-and-finally-transferred-to/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I have always had a relationship with clothes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-have-always-had-a-relationship-with-clothes/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I'm not such a public person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-m-not-such-a-public-person/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [Since an early age, I’ve been intrigued by the idea of design evolution,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/since-an-early-age-i-ve-been-intrigued-by-the-idea-of-design-evolution/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [When people ask about inspirations, and you're like 'oh, it was a flower or a mountain or a pony', some people just think you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/when-people-ask-about-inspirations-and-you-re-like-oh-it-was-a-flower/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [My mother has become my daughter and I've become her guardian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/my-mother-has-become-my-daughter-and-i-ve-become-her-guardian/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [Just because you work in the fashion industry, it doesn't mean you live your life in fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/just-because-you-work-in-the-fashion-industry-it-doesn-t-mean-you/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [One of the reasons I wanted to collaborate with Target is because I felt that together we could create a collection that would inspire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/one-of-the-reasons-i-wanted-to-collaborate-with-target-is-because-i/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [I love crazy, gaudy bling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-love-crazy-gaudy-bling/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

> [When I say that I'm a businessperson and a dressmaker, it's the truth. I run a business, and I make dresses, I make blouses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/when-i-say-that-i-m-a-businessperson-and-a-dressmaker-it-s-the-truth/)

[Phillip Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

[Explore all 22 Phillip Lim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/)

## More California quotes

> [Everyone in California is from somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wright-morris/everyone-in-california-is-from-somewhere-else/)

[Wright Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wright-morris/)

> [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/)

[Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/)

> [We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/we-need-to-incorporate-that-age-old-concept-of-redemption-into-the/)

[Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/)

> [The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hinton/the-urban-literate-southern-california-sub-group-of-the-early-atomic/)

Sam Hinton

> [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/)

[Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/)

> [Many militarists would like to see California's votes vanish from the national electoral system, which would then become more Republican.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-swanson/many-militarists-would-like-to-see-california-s-votes-vanish-from-the/)

[David Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-swanson/)

> [When I started in California, people would say, 'Enterprise who?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-nicholson/when-i-started-in-california-people-would-say-enterprise-who/)

[Pamela Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-nicholson/)

> [Take one round-trip flight between New York and California, and you've generated about 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that your car emits over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/take-one-round-trip-flight-between-new-york-and-california-and-you-ve/)

[Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/)

> [These French-style caramels are handmade in California. It's always hard to give them away!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/these-french-style-caramels-are-handmade-in-california-it-s-always/)

[Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/)

> [The D.C. playbook is obsolete. It's time for the people of California to bring the agenda to Washington, not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-de-leon/the-d-c-playbook-is-obsolete-it-s-time-for-the-people-of-california/)

[Kevin de Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-de-leon/)

> [While there is an attempt by the Trump people to say that California isn't really America. California certainly seems like America to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frum/while-there-is-an-attempt-by-the-trump-people-to-say-that-california/)

[David Frum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frum/)

> [I'm from California, but my father, who passed away when I was young, was from Newark. When I was kid, we would go back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-daly/i-m-from-california-but-my-father-who-passed-away-when-i-was-young/)

[Carson Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-daly/)

> [“God will break California from the surface of the continent like someone breaking off a piece of chocolate. It will become its own floating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ruby/god-will-break-california-from-the-surface-of-the-continent-like/)

[Laura Ruby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ruby/)

> [You could have a hit in California that no one had heard of in Oklahoma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wanda-jackson/you-could-have-a-hit-in-california-that-no-one-had-heard-of-in/)

[Wanda Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wanda-jackson/)

> [My first encounter with yoga was in 1969 with my older brother Doug. I was thirteen years old, and he was eighteen. He'd learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-f-swensen/my-first-encounter-with-yoga-was-in-1969-with-my-older-brother-doug-i/)

[David F. Swensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-f-swensen/)

[Browse all 2,036 California quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/california/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I would be first generation. Growing up in California.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Phillip Lim"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-know-so-i-guess-i-would-be/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "California"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-know-so-i-guess-i-would-be/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/phillip-lim-25632_california_i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-k_2903646.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I think my parents were immigrants, you know, so I guess I would be first generation. Growing up in…” — Phillip Lim",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Phillip Lim",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-lim/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I think my parents were immigrants,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-know-so-i-guess-i-would-be/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-lim/i-think-my-parents-were-immigrants-you-know-so-i-guess-i-would-be/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
