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?
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I am a gentleman, though spoiled i' the breeding. The Buzzards
are all gentlemen. We came with the Conqueror.
I am a gentleman, though spoiled i' the breeding. The Buzzards
are all gentlemen. We came with the Conqueror.
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.
The nobler the blood the less the pride
The nobler the blood the less the pride
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.]
