Nothing is more disgraceful than for a man who is nothing, to hold himself honored on account of his forefathers; and yet hereditary honors are a noble and splendid treasure to descendants.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
From our ancestors come our names from our virtues our honor.
—Common Proverb
Unworthy offspring brag the most about their worthy descendants.
—Danish Proverb
If you would civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
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
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
To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.
—Chinese Proverb
Do well and you will have no need for ancestors.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Our ancestors are very good kind of folks, but they are the last people I should choose to have a visiting acquaintance with.
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) Irish-born British Playwright, Poet, Elected Rep
Good breeding, a union of kindness and independence.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Mules are always boasting that their ancestors were horses.
—German 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
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
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
We owe it to our ancestors to preserve entire those rights they have delivered to our care. We owe it to our posterity not to suffer their dearest inheritance to be destroyed.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
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
Every man is an omnibus in which his ancestors ride.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Heredity is nothing, but stored environment.
—Luther Burbank (1849–1926) American Botanist, Scientist
We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.
—Joyce Carol Oates (b.1938) American Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Literary Critic
Is anyone simply by birth to be applauded or punished?
—The Hitopadesha Indian Collection of Fables
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
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
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
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
It is indeed desirable to be well-descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
A man’s ancestry is a positive property to him.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
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
Many a family tree needs trimming.
—Kin Hubbard (1868–1930) American Cartoonist, Humorist
High birth is an accident, not a virtue.
—Metastasio (1698–1782) Italian Poet, Librettist of Opera Seria
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