--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whoever serves his country well has no…" description: "\"Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png" --- # Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors. ![“Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png) > “Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person who dutifully serves their nation does not rely on past lineage for validation. **In simple terms:** Service replaces ancestral pride. Key Takeaway Serve your country with honor. Themes duty patriotism legacy Mood proud reflective Type moral philosophical When to use this quote - public service - citizen responsibility - national pride Key Concepts Republicanism individual merit Questions to Reflect On - How does personal merit compare to inherited status? - What does serving your country mean to you? A Different Perspective May ignore historical context and personal heritage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Ancestors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestors/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Country Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-need-427679/) [Need Ancestors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-ancestors-749130/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Serves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serves/) [Serves Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serves-country-1246327/) [Uprising](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uprising/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/who-serves-his-country-well-has-no-need-of-ancestors/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Do well and you will have no need for ancestors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/do-well-and-you-will-have-no-need-for-ancestors/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [He serves his party best who serves his country best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/he-serves-his-party-best-who-serves-his-country-best/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [You don't need a grand plan, you don't need to go back to the ancestors and rewrite the rules. You just need to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-feiler/you-don-t-need-a-grand-plan-you-don-t-need-to-go-back-to-the/) [Bruce Feiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-feiler/) > [The President of the United States should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/the-president-of-the-united-states-should-strive-to-be-always-mindful/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [He serves his party best who serves the country best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/he-serves-his-party-best-who-serves-the-country-best/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [To the wicked, everything serves as pretext.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/to-the-wicked-everything-serves-as-pretext/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Kerala is called 'God's own country.' We need to make sure it is really so, for which we should ensure the entire state, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pinarayi-vijayan/kerala-is-called-god-s-own-country-we-need-to-make-sure-it-is-really/) [Pinarayi Vijayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pinarayi-vijayan/) > [In our country, you need to be married to be eligible for many things, and to have a right on your partner's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suhasini-mulay/in-our-country-you-need-to-be-married-to-be-eligible-for-many-things/) [Suhasini Mulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suhasini-mulay/) > [Afghanistan is a country in need. Afghanistan needs to protect itself in the region; Afghanistan needs to secure itself within the country. Afghanistan needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/afghanistan-is-a-country-in-need-afghanistan-needs-to-protect-itself/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [I would love to tell you this country is on the cusp of coming together, but it isn't. But I can tell you that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-tester/i-would-love-to-tell-you-this-country-is-on-the-cusp-of-coming/) [Jon Tester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-tester/) > [W. H. Auden once suggested that to understand your own country you need to have lived in at least two others. One can say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mortimer/w-h-auden-once-suggested-that-to-understand-your-own-country-you-need/) [Ian Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mortimer/) > [While there are many good courts in the country, we need to have good coaches for more players to come up. Not everyone can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-v-sindhu/while-there-are-many-good-courts-in-the-country-we-need-to-have-good/) [P. V. Sindhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-v-sindhu/) > [It would be great if people returned to areas of the country that need talented people with good economic prospects. Our country would really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance-2/it-would-be-great-if-people-returned-to-areas-of-the-country-that/) [J. D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance-2/) > [To reinvent your own country you need a great audacity of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-rgen-moltmann/to-reinvent-your-own-country-you-need-a-great-audacity-of-hope/) [Jürgen Moltmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-rgen-moltmann/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## 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": "Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-need-of-ancestors/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancestor" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-need-of-ancestors/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/604/voltaire-173_ancestor_whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-n_3021053.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors.” — Voltaire", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Whoever serves his country well has...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-need-of-ancestors/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/whoever-serves-his-country-well-has-no-need-of-ancestors/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```