To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.
—Chinese Proverb
Good breeding, a union of kindness and independence.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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
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
Man is descended from a hairy-tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in his habits.
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
Is anyone simply by birth to be applauded or punished?
—The Hitopadesha Indian Collection of Fables
Clever father, clever daughter; clever mother, clever son.
—Russian Proverb
The scholar without good breeding is a nitpicker; the philosopher a cynic; the soldier a brute and everyone else disagreeable.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
It is indeed desirable to be well-descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
A man’s ancestry is a positive property to him.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
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
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
If you would civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
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
Unworthy offspring brag the most about their worthy descendants.
—Danish Proverb
Breed is stronger than pasture.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
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
Mules are always boasting that their ancestors were horses.
—German Proverb
Every man is an omnibus in which his ancestors ride.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
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
I don’t have to look up my family tree, because I know that I’m the sap.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Humorist, Radio Personality
From our ancestors come our names from our virtues our honor.
—Common Proverb
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
The kind of ancestors we have had is not as important as the kind of descendants our ancestors have.
—Unknown
Do well and you will have no need for ancestors.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
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
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
We are linked by blood, and blood is memory without language.
—Joyce Carol Oates (b.1938) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Playwright, Poet, Literary Critic
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
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
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
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
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
Englishmen hate Liberty and Equality too much to understand them. But every Englishman loves a pedigree.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
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
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
High birth is an accident, not a virtue.
—Metastasio (1698–1782) Italian Poet, Librettist
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
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
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
Each has his own tree of ancestors, but at the top of all sits Probably Arboreal.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
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) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Heredity is nothing, but stored environment.
—Luther Burbank (1849–1926) American Botanist, Scientist
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
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
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