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.

Say, when the ground our father Adam till'd,
And mother Eve the humble distaff held,
Who then read more

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?

One who is proud of ancestry is like a turnip; there is nothing good of him but that which is read more

One who is proud of ancestry is like a turnip; there is nothing good of him but that which is underground

There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had read more

There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.

I came up-stairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.

I came up-stairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.

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.

I look upon you as a gem of the old rock.

I look upon you as a gem of the old rock.

The wisdom of our ancestors.

The wisdom of our ancestors.