--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our ancestors have much to answer for…" description: "\"“Our ancestors have much to answer for. Why? What did they do? …Long ago, they used machines and drugs to keep the unhealthy and unfit ones of us alive..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/sheri-s-tepper-8133_children_our-ancestors-have-much-to-answer-for-wh_1094475.jpg" --- # Our ancestors have much to answer for. Why? What did they… ![“Our ancestors have much to answer for. Why? What did they do? …Long ago, they used machines and drugs to keep the unhealthy and unfit ones of us alive. In that past time it was believed that all persons must have children. It was a right deemed so precious that it was forced upon even those who…” quote by Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/sheri-s-tepper-8133_children_our-ancestors-have-much-to-answer-for-wh_1094475.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/sheri-s-tepper-8133_children_our-ancestors-have-much-to-answer-for-wh_1094475.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/sheri-s-tepper-8133_children_our-ancestors-have-much-to-answer-for-wh_1094475.jpg) > ““Our ancestors have much to answer for. Why? What did they do? …Long ago, they used machines and drugs to keep the unhealthy and unfit ones of us alive. In that past time it was believed that all persons must have children. It was a right deemed so precious that it was forced upon even those who did not value it or should not have had it. If one of our people became pregnant, our people used all their knowledge to assure the young would be born, no matter how sick or disabled. Then, if the young lived, they injected them and dosed them and radiated them and transfused and transplanted them, to keep them alive, and then, when they were grown, they used all their skills in assisting them to have children of their own.”” [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of societies that prioritize reproduction over individual health and autonomy, using medical intervention to force survival and procreation. **In simple terms:** Societies may force people to reproduce regardless of health. Key Takeaway Question the ethics of forced reproduction. Themes ethics reproduction medical intervention autonomy societal pressure Mood thoughtful critical concerned Type philosophical political ethical When to use this quote - policy debates - healthcare ethics - family planning - genetic counseling - social welfare programs Key Concepts bioethics population control human rights Questions to Reflect On - What rights should individuals have over their reproductive choices? - How do we balance societal needs with personal autonomy? A Different Perspective May overlook personal choice and the value of quality of life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestors/) [Ancestors Answer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestors-answer-2846787/) [Believed Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believed-persons-2846788/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Past time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-time/) [People Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-used/) [Population growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population-growth/) ## Related quotes > [No one is useless…Those people are used less...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anamika-singh/no-one-is-useless-those-people-are-used-less/) [Anamika Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anamika-singh/) > [People are used to cash, and getting them out of that is going to be a long and tough exercise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-bhattacharya/people-are-used-to-cash-and-getting-them-out-of-that-is-going-to-be-a/) [Arundhati Bhattacharya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-bhattacharya/) > [There was a lot of times when I was busking there were a lot of people in your face, like 'More, more! 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The people I was used to work with, we will do everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalia-lafourcade/the-macorinos-and-me-there-s-a-big-space-between-our-generations-the/) [Natalia Lafourcade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalia-lafourcade/) > [People always get used to beauty though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/people-always-get-used-to-beauty-though/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Most disabled people get used to a certain level of abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanni-grey-thompson/most-disabled-people-get-used-to-a-certain-level-of-abuse/) [Tanni Grey-Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanni-grey-thompson/) ## More by Sheri S. Tepper > [“We're so old that the winds of age echo along our ribs and pick at our eye sockets. We could be gone tomorrow. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/we-re-so-old-that-the-winds-of-age-echo-along-our-ribs-and-pick-at/) [Sheri S. 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Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [“If the law does not do justice, the people will mock the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/if-the-law-does-not-do-justice-the-people-will-mock-the-law/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [“Faith healers. God-loves-you religions. State-supported lotteries. All that enormous energy expended to conquer nothing at all, stadia full of people watching no conquering going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/faith-healers-god-loves-you-religions-state-supported-lotteries-all/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [The sooner we can separate salvageable skeptics from self-righteous absolutists, the sooner we can move along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/the-sooner-we-can-separate-salvageable-skeptics-from-self-righteous/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [There are writers who say they have no social responsibility except to write a good book, but that doesn't satisfy me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/there-are-writers-who-say-they-have-no-social-responsibility-except/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [“Rich people didn't get in that kind of mess. They never had. Only the poor got trapped: by ignorance, by religion, by self-righteous laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/rich-people-didn-t-get-in-that-kind-of-mess-they-never-had-only-the/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [The expression of divinity is in variety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/the-expression-of-divinity-is-in-variety/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [I will raise up prophets to make conflicting pronouncements that inevitably will be garbled in transcription, resulting in mutually exclusive definitions of orthodoxy from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/i-will-raise-up-prophets-to-make-conflicting-pronouncements-that/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [Mankind accepts good fortune as his due, but when bad occurs, he thinks it was aimed at him, done to him, a hex, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/mankind-accepts-good-fortune-as-his-due-but-when-bad-occurs-he-thinks/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [“He told us that nations of men fell into disorder, so nations of law were set up instead. He told us that nations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/he-told-us-that-nations-of-men-fell-into-disorder-so-nations-of-law/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) [Explore all 80 Sheri S. Tepper quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) ## More Ancestors quotes > [The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-wright/the-desire-to-fly-is-an-idea-handed-down-to-us-by-our-ancestors-who/) [Wilbur Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-wright/) > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We pay for the mistakes of our ancestors, and it seems only fair that they should leave us the money to pay with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/we-pay-for-the-mistakes-of-our-ancestors-and-it-seems-only-fair-that/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [Going where no man has gone before is more difficult than it sounds. 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wheldon/each-of-us-is-the-product-of-history-our-lives-today-are-evidence/) [Laura Wheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wheldon/) > [Do we have to give Mr Sarkozy a history lesson? Yes, there are Gauls among our ancestors. But there are also Romans, Normans, Celts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najat-vallaud-belkacem/do-we-have-to-give-mr-sarkozy-a-history-lesson-yes-there-are-gauls/) [Najat Vallaud-Belkacem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najat-vallaud-belkacem/) > [As a woman of color, I always pay homage to my ancestors and elders - in the industry in particular - who have paved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/da-vine-joy-randolph/as-a-woman-of-color-i-always-pay-homage-to-my-ancestors-and-elders-in/) [Da'Vine Joy Randolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/da-vine-joy-randolph/) > [“Each of us, along with our ancestors, inhabits the same cosmos. When we tell stories, we enter the stream of human consciousness; we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/each-of-us-along-with-our-ancestors-inhabits-the-same-cosmos-when-we/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) [Browse all 443 Ancestors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestors/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our ancestors have much to answer for. Why? What did they do? …Long ago, they used machines and drugs to keep the unhealthy and unfit ones of us alive. In that past time it was believed that all persons must have children. It was a right deemed so precious that it was forced upon even those who did not value it or should not have had it. If one of our people became pregnant, our people used all their knowledge to assure the young would be born, no matter how sick or disabled. 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