Is anyone simply by birth to be applauded or punished?
Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding.
Every man is an omnibus in which his ancestors ride.
You, the sons of the pioneers, if you are true to your ancestry, must make your lives as worthy as they made theirs. They sought for true success, and therefore they did not seek ease. They knew that success comes only to those who lead the life of endeavor
The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestry is like the potato - the best part under ground.
Pedigrees seldom improve by age; the grandson is too often a weak infringement on the grandsire's parent.
While we know a lot about how teeth and facial structures changed over time, it was thought that once our ancestors became bipedal, there were few, if any, changes in the ankle associated with walking on two legs. Now we know there were slightly different ways to be bipedal.
Distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.
Some decent regulated pre-eminence, some preference (not exclusive appropriation) given to birth, is neither unnatural, nor unjust, nor impolite.
It has been estimated that one third of our Western civilization bears the mark of its Jewish ancestry.