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

Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living.

Karl Marx

The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte

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More information about this quote
Topic
Free will Decisions and choices Effects of the past

Author

Karl Marx
Source
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Medium
Essay
Genre
Historical literature Political literature
Language
German
Time
1852 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Marx, Karl. "Der 18te Brumaire des Louis Napoleon [The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon]." Die Revolution [The Revolution], 1852.

Current Citation

Marx, Karl. "The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon." The Political Writings, edited by David Fernbach. Verso, 2019.

Another quote about Progress

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one... But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

Theodore Parker

More information about this quote
Topic
Moral progress Social progress Progress
Speaker
Theodore Parker
Source
Ten Sermons of Religion
Medium
Sermon
Language
English
Time
1853 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Parker, Theodore. "Of Justice and the Conscience." Ten Sermons of Religion. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Company/New York: Charles S. Francis and Company, 1853.

Another quote from 1859

Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring. The offspring, also, will thus have a better chance of surviving.

Charles Darwin

On the Origin of Species

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More information about this quote
Topic
Natural selection Evolution

Author

Charles Darwin
Source
On the Origin of Species
Genre
Scientific literature
Language
English
Time
1859 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray, 1859, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species, edited by William Bynum. Penguin Classics, 2009, ch. 3.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Haste makes Waste.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Haste Carelessness

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)
Source
Poor Richard's Almanack
Medium
Almanac
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
English
Time
1753 1750s 18th century
Era
Colonial America
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard Improved. Philadelphia, 1753.

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.