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.

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.

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

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

Great families of yesterday we show,
And lords whose parents were the Lord knows who.

Great families of yesterday we show,
And lords whose parents were the Lord knows who.

The nobler the blood the less the pride

The nobler the blood the less the pride

"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,

He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another.

He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another.

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?

The brave are born from the brave and good. In steers and in
horses is to be found the read more

The brave are born from the brave and good. In steers and in
horses is to be found the excellence of their sire; nor do savage
eagles produce a peaceful dove.
[Lat., Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis;
Est in juvenis, est in equibus patrum
Virtus; nee imbellem feroces
Progenerant aquilae columbam.]