Early Life and Education
Thompson was born in Notting Hill, London, the second son of a Nigerian father and Scottish mother. His father was a taxi driver who was shot dead in Streatham when Thompson was about twelve. At seven years old Thompson was sent to Farney Close Boarding School, Bolney, Sussex, which he described as "a place for troubled children". Thompson's name is a contraction of Ayodele, a Yoruba word meaning "joy comes home". Thompson's first ambition was to become a professional footballer, but he later switched his interests to athletics.
Read more about this topic: Daley Thompson
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or education:
“Love is the hardest thing in the world to write about. So simple. Youve got to catch it through details, like the early morning sunlight hitting the gray tin of the rain spout in front of her house. The ringing of a telephone that sounds like Beethovens Pastoral. A letter scribbled on her office stationery that you carry around in your pocket because it smells of all the lilacs in Ohio.”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“There a captive sat in chains
Crooning ditties treasured well
From his Africs torrid plains.
Sole estate his sire bequeathed,
Hapless sire to hapless son,
Was the wailing song he breathed,
And his chain when life was done.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“The want of education and moral training is the only real barrier that exists between the different classes of men. Nature, reason, and Christianity recognize no other. Pride may say Nay; but Pride was always a liar, and a great hater of the truth.”
—Susanna Moodie (18031885)