quote · Legacy record
We pride ourselves, in weighing worth and merit, Too much in virtues that we but inherit. Some punctual grandsire makes us hate delay And we are proud to keep our oath and day. But our ancestral follies and abuses We still indulge in, and make for them excuses. Let him be proud, dared man be proud at all, Who stands where all his fathers used to fall, Holding their virtues fast and passing on Still higher good through his own victories won.
We pride ourselves, in weighing worth and merit, Too much in virtues that we but inherit. Some punctual grandsire makes us hate delay And we are proud to keep our oath and day. But our ancestral follies and abuses We still indulge in, and make for them excuses. Let him be proud, dared man be proud at all, Who stands where all his fathers used to fall, Holding their virtues fast and passing on Still higher good through his own victories won.
In print by 1911 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Isaac Ogden Rankin
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1911 AD · modern
In print by 1911: recorded in The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 24; printed byline: Isaac Ogden Rankin; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.