How shall I open my personal statement?

The important thing with personal statements is to grab the reader's attention in the first sentence. As it's a personal statement, the reader wants to know about YOU - this means that opening your statement with a quotation is not a good strategy. Perhaps open with the reason why you came to be enthusiastic about the subject you are applying for, or if you have a particularly strong view about something to do with your subject then make this your opening sentence. The key is to have an attention-grabbing opening sentence about you which won't blend in with the thousands of other statements which that person will be reading. Catch their eye with something unusual and punchy.