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

I celebrate myself and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

Walt Whitman

Song of Myself

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More information about this quote
Topic
Taking it easy Loving oneself

Author

Walt Whitman
Source
Song of Myself Leaves of Grass
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1855 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York: Self-published, 1855, poem 1.

Current Citation

Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." Leaves of Grass and Other Writings. W. W. Norton & Company, 2002, sect. 1, I. 1.

Another quote about Progress

The advancement of the arts from year to year taxes our credulity, and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.

Henry L. Ellsworth

More information about this quote
Topic
Technological progress Progress

Author

Henry L. Ellsworth
Language
English
Time
1843 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 1
Citation

Ellsworth, Henry L. "Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents for the Year." U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1843.

Another quote from 1859

All good things must come to an end.

Henry M. Field

More information about this quote
Topic
Endings

Author

Henry M. Field
Language
English
Time
1859 1850s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Field, Henry M. Summer Pictures: From Copenhagen to Venice. Sheldon and Company, 1859, ch. 1.

Another quote of the following type Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Fish and Visitors stink after three days.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Wearing out one's welcome Guests and visitors Hospitality

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
1736 1730s 18th century
Era
Colonial America
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard's Almanack. Philadelphia, 1736.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1736." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.