“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)
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Ambrose Bierce 204
American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabu… 1842–1914Related quotes
Source: Where There's a Will: Thoughts on the Good Life (2003), Ch. 21 : Family Values

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.

"Collins: Why this scientist believes in God" http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html, editorial, CNN (April 6, 2007)

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)