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

There is grandeur in this view of life...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Charles Darwin

On the Origin of Species

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More information about this quote
Topic
Human evolution Creation of man Evolution Human origins

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. 14.

Current Citation

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of the Species, edited by William Bynum. Penguin, 2009, ch. 14.

Another quote about Progress

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

Frederick Douglass

More information about this quote
Topic
Power relations Fighting for justice Political progress Politics Progress
Speaker
Frederick Douglass
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1857 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 0
Citation

Douglass, Frederick. "West India Emancipation." 3 Aug. 1857, Canandaigua, NY, USA.

Another quote from 1859

The fatal tendency of mankind to leave off thinking about a thing when it is no longer doubtful, is the cause of half their errors.

John Stuart Mill

On Liberty

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More information about this quote
Topic
Autopilot

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. 2.

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. 2.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

The apparel oft proclaims the man.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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More information about this quote
Topic
Personal brand Image Clothes make the man Clothing
Speaker
Lord Polonius

Author

William Shakespeare
Source
Hamlet
Medium
Play
Genre
Tragedy (play)
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
English
Time
1616 1610s 17th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 3.