--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I grew up in a very white, privileged…" description: "\"I grew up in a very white, privileged, old-fashioned society in South Africa and went to a boarding school run by nuns.\" — Prue Leith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg" --- # I grew up in a very white, privileged, old-fashioned… ![“I grew up in a very white, privileged, old-fashioned society in South Africa and went to a boarding school run by nuns.” quote by Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg) > “I grew up in a very white, privileged, old-fashioned society in South Africa and went to a boarding school run by nuns.” [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflects on growing up in a racially homogeneous, privileged South African environment and a religious boarding school. **In simple terms:** Describes a privileged, white, old‑fashioned South African upbringing. Key Takeaway Recognize how background shapes perspective. Themes identity privilege culture education religion Mood reflective thoughtful Type personal cultural When to use this quote - Personal memoir - cultural analysis - social commentary Key Concepts Social class colonial legacy religious influence Questions to Reflect On - How does your upbringing affect your current worldview? - What aspects of that environment still influence you? A Different Perspective Understanding privilege can limit empathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boarding school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boarding-school/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [South africa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south-africa/) ## Related quotes > [I went to an all-girls' Christian convent school run by nuns. It was fun, but when I was 15, I said, 'Mum, that's it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freida-pinto/i-went-to-an-all-girls-christian-convent-school-run-by-nuns-it-was/) [Freida Pinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freida-pinto/) > [I think the 'Law of Attraction' comes from a rich, white, privileged perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-gosling/i-think-the-law-of-attraction-comes-from-a-rich-white-privileged/) [Ryan Gosling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-gosling/) > [I didn't understand that just because something wasn't about race for me, doesn't mean it's not about race for the other person because I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stassi-schroeder/i-didn-t-understand-that-just-because-something-wasn-t-about-race-for/) [Stassi Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stassi-schroeder/) > [I have privileges even in comparison to a Palestinian Israeli because Palestinian Israelis who live permanently in Ramallah risk their status, not as citizens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amira-hass/i-have-privileges-even-in-comparison-to-a-palestinian-israeli-because/) [Amira Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amira-hass/) > [I am South African and I am so aware, even as a white, privileged South African, that even within our community of privilege the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlize-theron/i-am-south-african-and-i-am-so-aware-even-as-a-white-privileged-south/) [Charlize Theron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlize-theron/) > [I grew up with the White half of my family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaz-sinclair/i-grew-up-with-the-white-half-of-my-family/) [Jaz Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaz-sinclair/) > [Just because I grew up a white guy in America doesn't mean that's the music of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-koenig/just-because-i-grew-up-a-white-guy-in-america-doesn-t-mean-that-s-the/) [Ezra Koenig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-koenig/) > [I grew up in a very white middle-class area, and obviously I'm not that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/griff/i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-middle-class-area-and-obviously-i-m-not-that/) [Griff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/griff/) > [I grew up in an all-white community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-king/i-grew-up-in-an-all-white-community/) [Gayle King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-king/) > [I grew up with white parents, and until after college, it was a lot of confusion, especially because I grew up in an all-white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/i-grew-up-with-white-parents-and-until-after-college-it-was-a-lot-of/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you grew up white before the civil rights movement anywhere in the South, all grown-ups lied. They'd tell you stuff like, 'Don't drink…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/if-you-grew-up-white-before-the-civil-rights-movement-anywhere-in-the/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [I wanted to be a great white hunter, a prospector for gold, or a slave trader. But then, when I was eight, my parents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-smith/i-wanted-to-be-a-great-white-hunter-a-prospector-for-gold-or-a-slave/) [Wilbur Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-smith/) > [When I was 10 I went to the Drakensberg Boys Choir School, which is this idyllic Harry Potter-esque music boarding school in the mountains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/when-i-was-10-i-went-to-the-drakensberg-boys-choir-school-which-is/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I came through the Sixties so I was perfectly aware of drug-taking but I came from South Africa and we were brought up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-came-through-the-sixties-so-i-was-perfectly-aware-of-drug-taking/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“From the opening sentence, it is clear that we are in the presence of a writer with a distinctive voice and uncanny ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-doust/from-the-opening-sentence-it-is-clear-that-we-are-in-the-presence-of/) Jon Doust ## More by Prue Leith > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [If I am tanned, I feel a million times better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/if-i-am-tanned-i-feel-a-million-times-better/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [Hua Hin is Thailand's royal beach resort and home to the king's summer palace. The local food is fantastic, the weather is beautiful, everything's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/hua-hin-is-thailand-s-royal-beach-resort-and-home-to-the-king-s/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [If you've got children it's a hell of an everyday job. From a business point of view, children and husbands slow you down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/if-you-ve-got-children-it-s-a-hell-of-an-everyday-job-from-a-business/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I've baked more cakes since I've been on 'Bake Off' than I have in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-ve-baked-more-cakes-since-i-ve-been-on-bake-off-than-i-have-in-my/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I've always had an image of Mother's Pride flour, very respectable and middle-class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-ve-always-had-an-image-of-mother-s-pride-flour-very-respectable-and/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [It sounds boring, but anything is easy to start-starting a novel, starting a business ... it's keeping the thing going that is difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/it-sounds-boring-but-anything-is-easy-to-start-starting-a-novel/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I was an intellectual groupie. Still am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-was-an-intellectual-groupie-still-am/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I adored the celebrity 'Bake Offs.' They have a more relaxed atmosphere. They all come on thinking they're not competitive so there's a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-adored-the-celebrity-bake-offs-they-have-a-more-relaxed-atmosphere/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [The most important thing is to teach children to cook at schools. And not only to cook but to understand about where their food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/the-most-important-thing-is-to-teach-children-to-cook-at-schools-and/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I think women write more fully and honestly than men about heart and home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-think-women-write-more-fully-and-honestly-than-men-about-heart-and/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [Nobody should eat too much cake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/nobody-should-eat-too-much-cake/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [With contemporary writers, I often buy books and then realise I've bought them before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/with-contemporary-writers-i-often-buy-books-and-then-realise-i-ve/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I have never managed to put my feet up, ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-have-never-managed-to-put-my-feet-up-ever/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [I think the most important thing in the whole world is love and relationships, and if you don't have them it's quite bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-think-the-most-important-thing-in-the-whole-world-is-love-and/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) [Explore all 104 Prue Leith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) ## More Boarding school quotes > [“From the opening sentence, it is clear that we are in the presence of a writer with a distinctive voice and uncanny ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-doust/from-the-opening-sentence-it-is-clear-that-we-are-in-the-presence-of/) Jon Doust > [At age 10 or 12 he's going to boarding school in the Isle of Wight. 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It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rickitt/i-m-the-first-to-admit-i-ve-had-a-sheltered-life-i-grew-up-in-the/) [Adam Rickitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rickitt/) > [“Inside, a mother superior, ethereal, delicate, who took me under her wing. She caressed me with her slender, soft hands, she sat next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fleur-jaeggy/inside-a-mother-superior-ethereal-delicate-who-took-me-under-her-wing/) Fleur Jaeggy > [My parents sent me from Venezuela to the Convent of Our Lady, a boarding school in Hastings, which was horrible - like Harry Potter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-busquets/my-parents-sent-me-from-venezuela-to-the-convent-of-our-lady-a/) [Carmen Busquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-busquets/) > [You know I went to the Hunt Schools, a boarding school in Princeton, and I've heard so many Rhodes scholars have gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myron-rolle/you-know-i-went-to-the-hunt-schools-a-boarding-school-in-princeton/) [Myron Rolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myron-rolle/) > [My dream, I remember, when I went to boarding school, was to have a study all my own, a little nook someplace where nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-mathews/my-dream-i-remember-when-i-went-to-boarding-school-was-to-have-a/) [Harry Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-mathews/) > [I was a fat little boy when I was 10 years old! My mother, who didn't speak any English at all, said, 'I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-sharif/i-was-a-fat-little-boy-when-i-was-10-years-old-my-mother-who-didn-t/) [Omar Sharif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-sharif/) > [I went to boarding school at seven and cried and cried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-everett/i-went-to-boarding-school-at-seven-and-cried-and-cried/) [Rupert Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-everett/) > [When I was 10 I went to the Drakensberg Boys Choir School, which is this idyllic Harry Potter-esque music boarding school in the mountains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/when-i-was-10-i-went-to-the-drakensberg-boys-choir-school-which-is/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [It was tough going to boarding school. It was very hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-guinness/it-was-tough-going-to-boarding-school-it-was-very-hard-work/) [Jasmine Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-guinness/) > [I went to boarding school Southern, religious, and straight, and I left boarding school not being at all religious and not being straight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hughes/i-went-to-boarding-school-southern-religious-and-straight-and-i-left/) [Chris Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hughes/) > [I had been kind of quite porky and happy at boarding school and not self-conscious at all; then, suddenly, I found myself in auditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-had-been-kind-of-quite-porky-and-happy-at-boarding-school-and-not/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) [Browse all 141 Boarding school quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boarding-school/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I grew up in a very white, privileged, old-fashioned society in South Africa and went to a boarding school run by nuns.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Prue Leith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old-fashioned-society-in-south/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boarding school" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old-fashioned-society-in-south/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/prue-leith-5008_boarding-school_i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old_3136663.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I grew up in a very white, privileged, old-fashioned society in South Africa and went to a boarding school…” — Prue Leith", "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": "Prue Leith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I grew up in a very...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old-fashioned-society-in-south/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-grew-up-in-a-very-white-privileged-old-fashioned-society-in-south/#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 } } ] } ```