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Ancestry Quotes

Browse 273 quotes about Ancestry.

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Ancestry Quotes

“Like every other creature on the face of the earth, Godfrey was, by birthright, a stupendous badass, albeit in the somewhat narrow technical sense that he could trace his ancestry back up a long line of slightly less highly evolved stupendous badasses to that first self-replicating gizmo---which, given the number and variety of its descendants, might justifiably be described as the most stupendous badass of all time. Everyone and everything that wasn't a stupendous badass was dead.”

FirstsLongSelfMightEarthFacesGivenLinesNumbersCreaturesAll TimeVarietyBadassAncestryDescendantsBirthrightLong Lines
Author:Neal Stephenson
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“…Even the idea of a city never entered his mind. It was as if he had walked under the millimeter of haze just above the inked fibers of a map, that pure zone between land and chart, between distances and legends, between nature and storyteller. The place they had chosen to come to, to be their best selves, to be unconscious of ancestry. Here, apart from the sun compass and the odometer mileage, and the book, he was alone, his own invention. He knew during these times how the mirage worked, the fata morgana, for he was within it.”

IfsMindBookIdeasSelfCitiesSunLandPureDistanceInventionChosenUnconsciousZoneMapsLegendsStorytellerCompassAncestryFiberBest SelfMiragesHazeMileageMorgana
Author:Michael Ondaatje
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“Mr L Prosser was, as they say, only human. In other words he was a carbon-based life form descended from an ape. More specifically he was forty, fat and shabby and worked for the local council. Curiously enough, though he didn't know it, he was also a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan, though intervening generations and racial mixing had so juggled his genes that he had no discernible Mongoloid characteristics, and the only vestiges left in Mr L Prosser of his mighty ancestry were a pronounced stoutness about the tum and a predilection for little fur hats.”

KnowsHumansLittlesEnoughFormLeftLinesGenerationsDirectMalesLocalsFatsCharacteristicsHatsFortyGenesCarbonCouncilApesFurAncestryMixingDescendantsShabbyIntervening
Author:Douglas Adams
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“Every time a crime was committed by a Muslim, that person's faith was mentioned, regardless of its relevance. When a crime is committed by a Christian, do they mention his religion? ... When a crime is committed by a black man, it's mentioned in the first breath: 'An African American man was arrested today...' But what about German Americans? Anglo Americans? A white man robs a convenience store and do we hear he's of Scottish descent? In no other instance is the ancestry mentioned.”

MenFirstsPersonsTodayChristianBlackWhiteCrimeBreathsCommittedStoresInstanceAfrican AmericanWhite ManConvenienceRelevanceArrestedAncestryScottishDescent
Author:Dave Eggers
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“We do not draw conclusions with our eyes, but with our reasoning powers, and if the whole of the rest of living nature proclaims with one accord from all sides the evolution of the world of organisms, we cannot assume that the process stopped short of Man. But it follows also that the factors which brought about the development of Man from his Simian ancestry must be the same as those which have brought about the whole of evolution.”

IfsMenWorldWholeEyeScienceProcessSidesNatureDevelopmentEvolutionDrawsAssumingFactorsConclusionReasoningOrganismsAccordAncestry
Author:August Weismann
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“I want to be a positive role model, especially for kids and Aboriginal people... When people see me, often all they see is another Australian athlete having a go. It isn't until they see the full Cathy Freeman picture that they realise how proud I am of my ancestry and heritage. I'd like a little more tolerance and acceptance of my culture and all the differing cultures that make up Australia.”

PeopleWantLittlesKidsCultureLeadershipRolesAcceptanceProudModelsAthleteToleranceAustraliaRealisingRole ModelsHeritageAustralianAncestryAboriginalFreemanCathyPositive Role Model
Author:Cathy Freeman
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“And when you tell me that somebody's skin color or gender is going to determine their prospects in this world, that is turning the clock back hundreds of years. Back to a time before this nation declared that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator; not by their ancestry, not by their skin color, not by their gender, not by Congress, not by the Constitution, and not by the laws”

MenWorldYearsActionLawNationsThis WorldColorEqualSkinsConstitutionCongressDetermineCreatorGenderClockAncestryProspectsAffirmative ActionAffirmativeSkin Color
Author:Alan Keyes
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“Englishmen hate Liberty and Equality too much to understand them. But every Englishman loves a pedigree.”

LoveHateLibertyToo MuchRebelliousEnglishmenAncestryPedigreeLiberty And Equality
Book:The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more
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“You are a child of God. He is father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!”

PeopleMindChildrenMatterSpiritFatherHeavenLinesRaceWrittenGenerationsBirthKingsNo Matter WhatNobleMortalsChild Of GodOffspringAncestryPedigreeSingle Line
Author:Boyd K. Packer
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“Asian Homo erectus died without issue and does not enter our immediate ancestry (for we evolved from African populations); Neanderthal people were collateral cousins, perhaps already living in Europe while we emerged in Africa... In other words, we are an improbable and fragile entity, fortunately successful after precarious beginnings as a small population in Africa, not the predictable end result of a global tendency. We are a thing, an item of history, not an embodiment of general principles.”

PeopleDoeEndsScienceResultsPrinciplesIssuesSuccessfulEvolutionEuropeDiedPopulationTendenciesFragileEntityCousinItemsAsianPredictableAncestryEmbodimentImprobablePrecariousEnd ResultsCollateralNeanderthals
Author:Stephen Jay Gould
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“Unlike most heritages, Western civilization is not primarily a geographical place or a genetic bloodline. It is a state of mind. No matter where on earth one was born, to become heir to Western civilization's ancestry, one need only pledge allegiance to reason and individual liberty-the civilized, life-affirming values that represent the "West at its best."”

LifeNeedsMindMatterStatesReasonEarthValuesIndividualBornLibertyCivilizationWestWesternIndividualityCivilizedState Of MindHeritagePledgeAllegianceAncestryHeirsWestern CivilizationIndividual LibertyAffirmingLife AffirmingBloodline
Author:Terri Runnels
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“Our historical bequest is sublime. I have inherited a fragmented but highly creative exile and, since 1948, a home. I don't know that I want to settle there. I prefer the creative spur of exile. () But wherever I am I shall be Jewish, and that sound will inform every syllable I write. I am blessed with a long ancestry of wisdom, prophecy, and promise, a line of overwhelming creative achievements, courage, humor, and, above all, a dogged and chronic permanence, the greatest legacy of all.”

KnowsWantWritingLongHomeSoundLinesCreativePromiseAchievementBlessedHistoricalLegacySettlingOverwhelmingProphecySublimeExileSpursAncestryPermanenceSyllablesFragmented
Author:Bernice Rubens
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“The question before us is, whether people of African ancestry compose a portion of this people, and are constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”

PeopleThinkingWarStatesUnitedUnited StatesRightsCitizensMembersConstitutionClaimsInstrumentsPrivilegeCivil WarPortionsSovereigntyAncestryConstituentsRights And Privileges
Author:Roger Brooke Taney
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“This reference to the Scots side of her ancestry is the first of two visual explorations into Tori Amos's diverse cultural past. As is the case for many of us, Tori's ancestry is a mix of races and religions, philosophies and professions, fortunes and foibles. What to some may seem like a family tree grown wild and untamed is actually a mighty oak that has weathered life's many storms and can still put out a rare and beautiful blossom like Tori.”

FirstsMayStillsTwoPhilosophySeemsPastBeautifulSidesRaceCasesTreeFortuneStormProfessionVisualsExplorationDiverseOaksAncestryPhilosophy Of ReligionScotsFoiblesUntamedWeatheredRace And ReligionMighty Oaks
Author:Kevyn Aucoin
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“For example, both humans and chimps have a broken copy of a gene that in other mammals helps make vitamin C. ... It's hard to imagine how there could be stronger evidence for common ancestry of chimps and humans. ... Despite some remaining puzzles, there's no reason to doubt that Darwin had this point right, that all creatures on earth are biological relatives.”

HumansHardReasonHelpingEarthCommonDoubtImagineExampleBrokenCreaturesEvidenceStrongerDespiteNo ReasonCopiesGenesPuzzlesAncestryVitaminsMammals
Author:Michael Behe
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“... the cooperative forces are biologically the more important and vital. The balance between the cooperative and altruistic tendencies and those which are disoperative and egoistic is relatively close. Under many conditions the cooperative forces lose, In the long run, however, the group centered, more altruistic drives are slightly stronger. ... human altruistic drives are as firmly based on an animal ancestry as is man himself. Our tendencies toward goodness... are as innate as our tendencies toward intelligence; we could do well with more of both.”

MenHumansWellsLongImportantRunningForceLosesAnimalGroupsConditionsBalanceGoodnessStrongerTendenciesCooperationLong RunsInnateAncestryCooperatives
Author:Warder Clyde Allee
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