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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?
Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred.
Born in the garret, in the kitchen bred.
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.
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.]
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.
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.
He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another
He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another
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.]
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.
