In the division of inheritance, friendship stands still.
—Dutch Proverb
Die and endow a college or a cat.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution of our country with our dearest domestic ties; adopting our fundamental laws into the bosom of our family affections; keeping inseparable and cherishing with the warmth of all their combined and mutually reflected charities, our state, our hearths, our sepulchres, and our altars.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
You give me nothing during your life, but you promise to provide for me at your death. If you are not a fool, you know what you make me wish for.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Absent people do not inherit.
—French Proverb
People don’t have fortunes left them in that style nowadays; men have to work and women to marry for money. It’s a dreadfully unjust world.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
Say not that you
—Anonymous
The way to be immortal (I mean not to die at all) is to have me for your heir. I recommend you to put me in your will and you will see that (as long as I live at least) you will never even catch cold.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it.
—John Bunyan (1628–88) English Puritan Writer, Preacher
Enjoy what thou hast inherited from thy sires if thou wouldst really possess it.—What we employ and use is never an oppressive burden; what the moment brings forth, that only can it profit by.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
We pay for the mistakes of our ancestors, and it seems only fair that they should leave us the money to pay with.
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
—Unknown
I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
You may not be able to leave your children a great inheritance, but day by day, you may be weaving coats for them which they will wear for all eternity.
—Theodore L. Cuyler (1822–1909) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Writer
A good name is a second inheritance.
—German Proverb
You inherit from the dead, not from the sick.
—African Proverb
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?.
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
To kill a relative of whom you are tired is something. But to inherit his property afterwards, that is genuine pleasure.
—Honore de Balzac (1799–1850) French Novelist
In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
Those who inherit fortunes are frequently more of a problem than those who made them.
—African Proverb
I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
But thousands die without or this or that, die, and endow a college, or a cat: To some, indeed, Heaven grants the happier fate, Tenrich a bastard, or a son they hate.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
He who comes for the inheritance is often made to pay for the funeral.
—Yiddish Proverb
Come for your inheritance and you may have to pay for the funeral.
—Yiddish Proverb
I would rather make my name than inherit it.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
Say not you know another entirely till you have divided an inheritance with him.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
The are of will-making chiefly consists in baffling the importunity of expectation.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
There is a strange charm in the thoughts of a good legacy, or the hopes of an estate, which wondrously removes or at least alleviates the sorrow that men would otherwise feel for the death of friends.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
It is the fate of the great ones of this earth, to be appreciated only after they are gone.
—Common Proverb