The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
They defend their errors as if they were defending their inheritance.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
The weeping of an heir is laughter in disguise.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Say not you know another entirely till you have divided an inheritance with him.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
What you have inherited from your fathers, earn over again for yourselves, or it will not be yours.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The graveyards are full of young lawyers, lost inheritance and young doctors.
—French Proverb
Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
All heiresses are beautiful.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
—Unknown
The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral rights.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
A third heir seldom enjoys what has been dishonestly acquired.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
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
Depend upon it, the first universal characteristic of all great art is Tenderness, as the second is Truth. I find this more and more every day: an infinitude of tenderness is the chief gift and inheritance of all the truly great men. It is sure to involve a relative intensity of disdain towards base things, and an appearance of sternness and arrogance in the eyes of all hard, stupid, and vulgar people
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
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
A good name is a second inheritance.
—German Proverb
To get to know a friend, you must share an inheritance with him.
—German Proverb
We have not inherited this land from our ancestors; rather we have borrowed it from our children.
—African Proverb
You inherit from the dead, not from the sick.
—African 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
It is the fate of the great ones of this earth, to be appreciated only after they are gone.
—Common Proverb
A person can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
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
Come for your inheritance and you may have to pay for the funeral.
—Yiddish Proverb
Say not that you
—Anonymous
Absent people do not inherit.
—French Proverb
Those who inherit fortunes are frequently more of a problem than those who made them.
—African Proverb
I would rather make my name than inherit it.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
The patient is not likely to recover who makes the doctor his heir.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
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
The word
was born in the blood,
grew in the dark body, beating,
and took flight through the lips and the mouth.
Farther away and nearer
still, still it came
from dead fathers and from wondering races,
from lands which had turned to stone,
lands weary of their poor tribes,
for when grief took to the roads
the people set out and arrived
and married new land and water
to grow their words again.
And so this is the inheritance;
this is the wavelength which connects us
with dead men and the dawning
of new beings not yet come to light.
—Pablo Neruda (1904–73) Chilean Poet, Diplomat, Political leader