You can if you want, but maybe Adam Smith will have been done too many times. I started with a quote, got into warwick for history, not oxford, though I don't think it was the quote's fault.
'Understanding the past and its relation to the present is one of collective humanity's most important quests'. I have always read widely; novels such as John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath' and Ralph Ellison's 'The Invisible Man' piqued my interest into the study of the past, and more recently I have found that the academic discipline of History stimulates me to respond and intrigues me the most. I believe that an understanding of past events, and the ideas which have influenced and helped shape the world, is crucial to expanding our awareness of ourselves, both as individuals and in relation to our wider society.'
That's how I did it anyway. Just realised I didn't actually attribute it, oops