Say, when the ground our father Adam till'd,
And mother Eve the humble distaff held,
Who then his pedigree presumed to trace,
Or challenged the prerogative of place?
[Lat., Primus Adam duro cum vertet arva ligone,
Pensaque de vili deceret Eva colo:
Ecquis in hoc poterat vir nobilis orbe videri?
Et modo quisquam alios ante locandue erir?
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He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another
He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another
Some decent regulated pre-eminence, some preference (not
exclusive appropriation) given to birth, is neither unnatural,
nor unjust, nor read more
Some decent regulated pre-eminence, some preference (not
exclusive appropriation) given to birth, is neither unnatural,
nor unjust, nor impolite.
A nation is a society united by a delusion about it's ancestry and by a common hatred of it's neighbours.
A nation is a society united by a delusion about it's ancestry and by a common hatred of it's neighbours.
People will not look forward to posterity, who never look
backward to their ancestors.
People will not look forward to posterity, who never look
backward to their ancestors.
Born is a Cellar, . . . and living in a Garret.
Born is a Cellar, . . . and living in a Garret.
Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.
Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.
Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred.
Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred.
Of what use are pedigrees, or to be thought of noble blood, or
the display of family portraits, O read more
Of what use are pedigrees, or to be thought of noble blood, or
the display of family portraits, O Ponticus?
[Lat., Stemmata quid faciunt, quid prodest, Pontice, longo,
Sanguine censeri pictosque ostendere vultus.]
It is disgraceful when the passers-by exclaim, "O ancient house!
alas, how unlike is thy present master to thy read more
It is disgraceful when the passers-by exclaim, "O ancient house!
alas, how unlike is thy present master to thy former one."
[Lat., Odiosum est enim, cum a praetereuntibus dicatur:--O domus
antiqua, heu, quam dispari dominare domino.]
