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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.
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.
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.
What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards?
Alas! not all the blood, of all the Howards.
What can ennoble sots, or slaves, or cowards?
Alas! not all the blood, of all the Howards.
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 wisdom of our ancestors.
The wisdom of our ancestors.
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.]
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.]