The man who has not anything to boast of but his illustrious
ancestors is like a potato,--the only good read more

The man who has not anything to boast of but his illustrious
ancestors is like a potato,--the only good belonging to him is
under ground.

I came up-stairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.

I came up-stairs into the world; for I was born in a cellar.

Of what use are pedigrees, or to be thought of noble blood, or
the display of family portraits, O read more

Of what use are pedigrees, or to be thought of noble blood, or
the display of family portraits, O Ponticus?
[Lat., Stemmata quid faciunt, quid prodest, Pontice, longo,
Sanguine censeri pictosque ostendere vultus.]

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.

Sire, I am my own Rudolph of Hapsburg.

He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another

He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another

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.

We are all creatures of our ancestry! There is no right and wrong, objectively.

We are all creatures of our ancestry! There is no right and wrong, objectively.

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.

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.