“Genealogy, n. An account of one's descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own.”
The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Ambrose Bierce204
American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabu… 1842–1914Related quotes
Houston Stewart Chamberlain book The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts) (1899)
John Mortimer (1923–2009) English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author
Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 21 : Family Values
Charles Darwin book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
volume I, chapter II: "Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals", page 34 http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=47&itemID=F937.1&viewtype=image <br class="br">The Descent of Man (1871)
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Source: 1950s, Portraits from Memory and Other Essays (1956), p. 50
Context: My first advice (on how not to grow old) would be to choose you ancestors carefully. Although both my parents died young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors. My maternal grandfather, it is true, was cut off in the flower of his youth, at the age of sixty-seven, but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty. Of remoter ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age, and he died of a disease which is now rare, namely, having his head cut off.
Francis S. Collins (1950) Geneticist; Director of the National Institutes of Health
"Collins: Why this scientist believes in God" http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html, editorial, CNN (April 6, 2007)
François Bernier (1620–1688) French physician and traveller
Quoted from Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 5
Travels in the Mogul Empire (1656-1668)