Breed is stronger than pasture.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
I don’t have to look up my family tree, because I know that I’m the sap.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Comedian, Radio Personality
I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule.
—W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) English Dramatist, Librettist, Poet, Illustrator
If you would civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Unworthy offspring brag the most about their worthy descendants.
—Danish Proverb
Man is descended from a hairy-tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in his habits.
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
From our ancestors come our names from our virtues our honor.
—Common Proverb
No one is better born than another, unless they are born with better abilities and a more amiable disposition.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
He who boasts of his descent, praises the deed of another.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
They talk about their Pilgrim blood, their birthright high and holy! a mountain-stream that ends in mud thinks is melancholy.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
In church your grandsire cut his throat; to do the job too long he tarried: he should have had my hearty vote to cut his throat before he married.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Those who boast of their descent, brag on what they owe to others.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
High birth is an accident, not a virtue.
—Metastasio (1698–1782) Italian Poet, Librettist
None of us can boast about the morality of our ancestors. The record does not show that Adam and Eve were ever married.
—E. W. Howe (1853–1937) American Novelist, Editor
Clever father, clever daughter; clever mother, clever son.
—Russian Proverb
The proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he is born.
—William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) English Anglican Clergyman, Priest, Mystic
To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.
—Chinese Proverb
Good breeding is the result of much good sense, some good nature, and a little self-denial for the sake of others, and with a view to obtain the same indulgence from them.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.
—Joyce Carol Oates (b.1938) American Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Literary Critic
Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal marks of good-breeding. Vulgar persons can’t sit still, or, at least, they must work their limbs or features.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Genealogy: An account of one’s descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Genealogy: A perverse preoccupation of those who seek to demonstrate that their forebears were better people than they are.
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Heredity is nothing, but stored environment.
—Luther Burbank (1849–1926) American Botanist, Scientist
The first who was king was a fortunate soldier: Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
My ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they were there to meet the boat.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
If your descent is from heroic sires, show in your life a remnant of their fires.
—Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux (1636–1711) French Poet, Satirist, Literary Critic
Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Is anyone simply by birth to be applauded or punished?
—The Hitopadesha Indian Collection of Fables
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