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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.
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?
D'Adam nous sommes tous enfants,
La prove en est connue,
Et que tous, nos premier parents
read more
D'Adam nous sommes tous enfants,
La prove en est connue,
Et que tous, nos premier parents
Ont mene la charrue.
Mais, las de cultiver enfin
La terre labouree
L'une a detele le matin,
L'autre l'apres-dinee.
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.
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.
Birth and ancestry, and that which we have not ourselves
achieved, we can scarcely call our own.
[Lat., read more
Birth and ancestry, and that which we have not ourselves
achieved, we can scarcely call our own.
[Lat., Nam genus et proavos et quae non fecimus ipsi
Vix ea nostra voco.]
Born is a Cellar, . . . and living in a Garret.
Born is a Cellar, . . . and living in a Garret.
If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
The nobler the blood the less the pride
The nobler the blood the less the pride