--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we could know as intimately as we know…" description: "\"If we could know as intimately as we know our more immediate parents the long line of ancestors through whom the family spirit has passed on its way to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/helen-bosanquet-69650_ancestor_if-we-could-know-as-intimately-as-we-kno_1839943.jpg" --- # If we could know as intimately as we know our more… ![“If we could know as intimately as we know our more immediate parents the long line of ancestors through whom the family spirit has passed on its way to us, we should probably become fatalists in face of the apparently overwhelming evidence that there is nothing in us that has not come to us from…” quote by Helen Bosanquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/helen-bosanquet-69650_ancestor_if-we-could-know-as-intimately-as-we-kno_1839943.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/helen-bosanquet-69650_ancestor_if-we-could-know-as-intimately-as-we-kno_1839943.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc5/helen-bosanquet-69650_ancestor_if-we-could-know-as-intimately-as-we-kno_1839943.jpg) > “If we could know as intimately as we know our more immediate parents the long line of ancestors through whom the family spirit has passed on its way to us, we should probably become fatalists in face of the apparently overwhelming evidence that there is nothing in us that has not come to us from, or at least through, the Family. Family portrait galleries are a striking confirmation of the persistence of characteristics which ultimately govern the fortunes of successive generations.” [Helen Bosanquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bosanquet/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding that traits and tendencies are inherited can make us feel powerless against destiny. **In simple terms:** Inheritance can seem to dictate our lives. Key Takeaway Recognize patterns, but shape your own path. Themes inheritance family determinism identity Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - family history research - personal development - genetic counseling - educational curricula Key Concepts genetics cultural transmission psychology Questions to Reflect On - How much of your behavior is inherited? - Can you break a family pattern? A Different Perspective Even with strong inheritance, personal agency can alter outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Ancestors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestors/) [Ancestors Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestors-family-2341117/) [Characteristics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characteristics/) [Confirmation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confirmation/) [Evidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evidence/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Family Portrait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-portrait-975733/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Gallery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gallery/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Line Ancestors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/line-ancestors-2341118/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-lines/) [Overwhelming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overwhelming/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Persistence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persistence/) [Portraits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/portraits/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Successive Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successive-generations-2251289/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [I happened to take a photo, and there was my wife, my dog and my banjo, all in the same shot - and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/i-happened-to-take-a-photo-and-there-was-my-wife-my-dog-and-my-banjo/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [A city is like a family portrait - you don't tear it up if you don't like your uncle's nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-lerner/a-city-is-like-a-family-portrait-you-don-t-tear-it-up-if-you-don-t/) [Jaime Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-lerner/) > [A family portrait is only complete with love to fill it's frame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-fesler/a-family-portrait-is-only-complete-with-love-to-fill-it-s-frame/) [Wes Fesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-fesler/) > [“That was sort of our family portrait. It's not the kind of thing you think you would miss. Maybe you don't even notice it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-filer/that-was-sort-of-our-family-portrait-it-s-not-the-kind-of-thing-you/) [Nathan Filer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-filer/) > [“God, I wish he and I had been genuinely close as opposed to the "Don't-they-look-nice-together-in-the-airbrushed-family-portrait close.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/god-i-wish-he-and-i-had-been-genuinely-close-as-opposed-to-the-don-t/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The order of ... successive generations is indeed much more clearly proved than many a legend which has assumed the character of history in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roderick-murchison/the-order-of-successive-generations-is-indeed-much-more-clearly/) [Roderick Murchison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roderick-murchison/) > [Enduring fame is promised only to those writers who can offer to successive generations a substance constantly renewed; for every generation arrives upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/enduring-fame-is-promised-only-to-those-writers-who-can-offer-to/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [It is the natural order of things that successive generations will achieve more than their predecessors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-holland/it-is-the-natural-order-of-things-that-successive-generations-will/) [Dominic Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-holland/) > [As an out gay Gen Xer who has watched successive generations come out earlier and earlier, I am in awe of the ease with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-capehart/as-an-out-gay-gen-xer-who-has-watched-successive-generations-come-out/) [Jonathan Capehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-capehart/) > [The conditions that direct the order of . . . the living world . . . are marked by their persistence in improving the birthright of successive generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-galton/the-conditions-that-direct-the-order-of-the-living-world-are-marked/) [Francis Galton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-galton/) > [Successive generations of middle-class parents used to foist their own favourite books on their children. But some time in the late Eighties it began…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-york/successive-generations-of-middle-class-parents-used-to-foist-their/) [Peter York](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-york/) > [There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea. First, there is the bare beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-stickley/there-are-elements-of-intrinsic-beauty-in-the-simplification-of-a/) [Gustav Stickley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-stickley/) > [I found myself face to face with a long line of people resembling extras off the set of Night of the Living Dead: shuffling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-frank/i-found-myself-face-to-face-with-a-long-line-of-people-resembling/) [Joan Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-frank/) > [I've been beating my head all day long on the same six lines,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-k-smith/i-ve-been-beating-my-head-all-day-long-on-the-same-six-lines/) [Tracy K. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-k-smith/) > [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) ## More by Helen Bosanquet > [There is one class of men who from time to time have taken a keen and practical interest in the constitution of the Family,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-bosanquet/there-is-one-class-of-men-who-from-time-to-time-have-taken-a-keen-and/) [Helen Bosanquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bosanquet/) > [It seems to be almost inevitable that the man who accepts a subordinate economic position in the Family degenerates into a loafer and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-bosanquet/it-seems-to-be-almost-inevitable-that-the-man-who-accepts-a/) [Helen Bosanquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bosanquet/) > [Every family had its own peculiar cult, to which no stranger was ever admitted, and which alone could appease and satisfy the gods of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-bosanquet/every-family-had-its-own-peculiar-cult-to-which-no-stranger-was-ever/) [Helen Bosanquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bosanquet/) [Explore all 4 Helen Bosanquet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bosanquet/) ## More Ancestor quotes > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [Food binds us to our roots as strongly as any song or poem. Many of us have learned more about our ancestors in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-thomas/food-binds-us-to-our-roots-as-strongly-as-any-song-or-poem-many-of-us/) [Anna Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-thomas/) > [Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allen/whereas-our-ancestors-not-of-choice-were-the-first-successful/) [Richard Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allen/) > [Going where no man has gone before is more difficult than it sounds. Our cousins and ancestors were no less curious than we are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/going-where-no-man-has-gone-before-is-more-difficult-than-it-sounds/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“A very long time ago, some 2.5 million years B.C., the mother of human species as we know it, our ultimate ancestor, appeared in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/a-very-long-time-ago-some-2-5-million-years-b-c-the-mother-of-human/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [High birth is an accident, not a virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/high-birth-is-an-accident-not-a-virtue/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/southerners-whose-ancestors-a-hundred-years-ago-knew-the-horrors-of-a/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man's social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of his life;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/two-hundred-years-ago-before-the-advent-of-capitalism-a-man-s-social/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [And I saw for the first time how, despite the isolation of our own lives, we are always connected to our ancestors; our bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-richman/and-i-saw-for-the-first-time-how-despite-the-isolation-of-our-own/) [Alyson Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-richman/) > [There is an ancient Indian saying: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." If we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-schroeder/there-is-an-ancient-indian-saying-we-do-not-inherit-the-earth-from/) [Patricia Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-schroeder/) > [It is how it has always been. We will accept the legacy of our ancestors,' Asha says, smiling, and in her smile I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/it-is-how-it-has-always-been-we-will-accept-the-legacy-of-our/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [My ancestors came over from Germany about the time of the Civil War and one of them lost a leg and went back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/my-ancestors-came-over-from-germany-about-the-time-of-the-civil-war/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [ Now they \[the Powers\] have started the aggression, and the extinction of our nation is imminent. If we just fold our arms and yield… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/empress-dowager-cixi/now-they-the-powers-have-started-the-aggression-and-the-extinction-of/) [Empress Dowager Cixi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/empress-dowager-cixi/) > [A solitary American monk named Thomas Berry writes that in our relationship to nature, we have been autistic for centuries. Wrapped tightly in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/a-solitary-american-monk-named-thomas-berry-writes-that-in-our/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) [Browse all 767 Ancestor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we could know as intimately as we know our more immediate parents the long line of ancestors through whom the family spirit has passed on its way to us, we should probably become fatalists in face of the apparently overwhelming evidence that there is nothing in us that has not come to us from, or at least through, the Family. 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