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.

Illustrated Quote

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

The Sultan asked for a Signet motto, that should hold good for Adversity or Prosperity. Solomon gave him, "This also shall pass away."

Edward FitzGerald

More information about this quote
Topic
Equanimity

Author

Edward FitzGerald
Language
English
Time
1852 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Fitzgerald, Edward. Polonius: A Collection of Wise Saws and Modern Instances. London: William Pickering, 1852.

Another quote about Progress

We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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More information about this quote
Topic
Civil rights Moral progress Progress Justice
Speaker
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Source
Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution
Medium
Sermon
Statement Type
Prophecies and predictions
Language
English
Time
1968 1960s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution." 31 Mar. 1968, National Cathedral, Washington, DC, USA. Sermon.

Another quote from 1859

I hold that if the Almighty had ever made a set of men that should do all the eating and none of the work, he would have made them with mouths only and no hands, and if he had ever made another class that he intended should do all the work and none of the eating, he would have made them without mouths and with all hands.

Abraham Lincoln

More information about this quote
Topic
Equality
Speaker
Abraham Lincoln
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1859 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio. 17 Sept. 1859, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Speech at Cincinnati, Ohio, September 17, 1859." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Dripping water hollows out a stone, a ring is worn away by use.

Ovid

More information about this quote
Topic
One step at a time Persistence

Author

Ovid
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
Latin
Time
18 10s 1st century
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Ovid. "To Albinovanus: The Sixth Summer." Epistulae ex Ponto. 1st century CE, bk. 4, no. 10, l. 5.

Current Citation

Oivd. "Ex Ponto." Triste; Ex Ponto, translated by Arthur Leslie Wheeler, edited by G. P. Goold. Harvard University Press, 1988.