I left school on my 15th birthday.

The statement is a plain, autobiographical marker of an early break with formal education. In quotation databases it is often used to frame a narrative of self-invention: leaving school at the minimum legal age (in many places historically 15) suggests economic necessity, restlessness, or a desire to pursue work and experience over classroom instruction. As a standalone line it also functions rhetorically as a compressed origin story—implying that later achievement (if the speaker is notable) was built through apprenticeship, practice, and informal learning rather than credentials. Without a verified source, however, its significance remains contingent on which “David Bailey” is meant and the surrounding account.