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.
I am a gentleman, though spoiled i' the breeding. The Buzzards
are all gentlemen. We came with the Conqueror.
I am a gentleman, though spoiled i' the breeding. The Buzzards
are all gentlemen. We came with the Conqueror.
We are all creatures of our ancestry! There is no right and wrong, objectively.
We are all creatures of our ancestry! There is no right and wrong, objectively.
"My nobility," said he, "begins in me, but yours ends in you."
- Iphicrates,
"My nobility," said he, "begins in me, but yours ends in you."
- Iphicrates,
A degenerate nobleman, or one that is proud of his birth, is like
a turnip. There is nothing good read more
A degenerate nobleman, or one that is proud of his birth, is like
a turnip. There is nothing good of him but that which is
underground.
The man who has not anything to boast of but his illustrious
ancestors is like a potato,--the only good read more
The man who has not anything to boast of but his illustrious
ancestors is like a potato,--the only good belonging to him is
under ground.
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.]
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.
Few sons attain the praise
Of their great sires and most their sires disgrace.
Few sons attain the praise
Of their great sires and most their sires disgrace.
