We cannot reform our forefathers.

George Eliot

Adam Bede

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More information about this quote

Topic

Morality of the past The past Progress

Author

George Eliot

Source

Adam Bede

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eliot, George. Adam Bede. Edinburgh/London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1859, ch. 53.

Current Citation

Eliot, George. Adam Bede, edited by Carol A. Martin. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 53.

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A quote by George Eliot about morality of the past: “We cannot reform our forefathers.”
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A quote by George Eliot about morality of the past: “We cannot reform our forefathers.”
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A quote by George Eliot about morality of the past: “We cannot reform our forefathers.”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1850s

Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

Alfred Tennyson

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More information about this quote
Topic
Lost love Broken heart Love

Author

Alfred Tennyson
Source
In Memoriam A.H.H.
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1850 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. In Memoriam A.H.H. London: Edward Moxon, 1850, pt. 27, st. 4.

Current Citation

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. "In Memoriam A.H.H." Alfred Tennyson: The Major Works, edited by Adam Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2009, pt. 27, st. 4.

Another quote about Progress

We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Walt Whitman

Pioneers! O Pioneers!

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More information about this quote
Topic
Progress

Author

Walt Whitman
Source
Pioneers! O Pioneers! Leaves of Grass
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1867 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Whitman, Walt. "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" Leaves of Grass. New York: Self-published, 1867, st. 2. Originally published in Drum-Taps. New York: Peter Eckler, 1865, st. 2.

Another quote from 1859

An opinion that corn-dealers are starvers of the poor, or that private property is robbery, ought to be unmolested when simply circulated through the press, but may justly incur punishment when delivered orally to an excited mob assembled before the house of a corn-dealer.

John Stuart Mill

On Liberty

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Topic
Limits on freedom of speech Freedom of speech and expression

Author

John Stuart Mill
Source
On Liberty
Medium
Essay
Genre
Philosophical literature Political literature
Language
English
Time
1859 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty. London: J.W. Parker and Son, 1859, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Mill, John Stuart. "On Liberty." On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays, edited by Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen. Oxford University Press, 2015, ch. 3.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and never well mended.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Reputation

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)
Source
Poor Richard's Almanack
Medium
Almanac
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1750 1750s 18th century
Era
Colonial America
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard Improved. Philadelphia, 1750.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard Improved." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.