--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: High birth is a thing which I never knew…" description: "\"High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to disparage except those who had it not; and I never knew any one to make a boast of it who had anyth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg" --- # High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to… ![“High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to disparage except those who had it not; and I never knew any one to make a boast of it who had anything else to be proud of.” quote by William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg) > “High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to disparage except those who had it not; and I never knew any one to make a boast of it who had anything else to be proud of.” [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. High birth is rarely disparaged unless one lacks it, and those with other merits rarely brag about it. **In simple terms:** People with noble birth rarely criticize it; others with achievements don’t need to boast. Key Takeaway Value character over lineage. Themes social class humility pride identity Mood thoughtful analytical Type social ethical When to use this quote - family gatherings - career networking - public speaking - personal branding Key Concepts social hierarchy self‑esteem Questions to Reflect On - How does your background shape your self‑view? - Can status be a burden as well as a benefit? A Different Perspective Focusing on birth can obscure personal effort and merit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestry/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Proud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proud/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [“The whole birth thing though,” Elle said. “It just seems like a poor exit strategy, doesn’t it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-shalvis/the-whole-birth-thing-though-elle-said-it-just-seems-like-a-poor-exit/) [Jill Shalvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-shalvis/) > [A certificate of live birth is not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination as a birth certificate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/a-certificate-of-live-birth-is-not-the-same-thing-by-any-stretch-of/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Generosity is the accompaniment of high birth; pity and gratitude are its attendants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-corneille/generosity-is-the-accompaniment-of-high-birth-pity-and-gratitude-are/) [Pierre Corneille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-corneille/) > [It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/it-is-fortunate-to-be-of-high-birth-but-it-is-no-less-so-to-be-of/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [What is high birth to him to whom high birth has never been the theme of his contemplation? What is a throne to him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-godwin/what-is-high-birth-to-him-to-whom-high-birth-has-never-been-the-theme/) [William Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-godwin/) > [ You are a principal work, a fragment of \[Goddess herself\], you have in yourself a part of \[her\]. Why then are you ignorant of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/you-are-a-principal-work-a-fragment-of-goddess-herself-you-have-in/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [High birth is a gift of fortune which should never challenge esteem towards those who receive it, since it costs them neither study nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/high-birth-is-a-gift-of-fortune-which-should-never-challenge-esteem/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Had (I) been a member of a more popular race, I should have been inclined to yield to the temptation of depending upon my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/had-i-been-a-member-of-a-more-popular-race-i-should-have-been/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [The man who has nothing to boast of but his illustrious ancestry is like the potato. The best part is underground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-overbury/the-man-who-has-nothing-to-boast-of-but-his-illustrious-ancestry-is/) [Thomas Overbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-overbury/) > [I have no urns, no dusty monuments; No broken images of ancestors, Wanting an ear, or nose; no forged tales Of long descents, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-jonson/i-have-no-urns-no-dusty-monuments-no-broken-images-of-ancestors/) [Ben Jonson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-jonson/) > [I am one who finds within me a nobility that spurns the idle pratings of the great, and their mean boasts of what their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gates-percival/i-am-one-who-finds-within-me-a-nobility-that-spurns-the-idle-pratings/) [James Gates Percival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gates-percival/) > [He who boasts of his descent, praises the deed of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/he-who-boasts-of-his-descent-praises-the-deed-of-another/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [There is a certain class of people who prefer to say that their fathers came down in the world through their own follies than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-a-certain-class-of-people-who-prefer-to-say-that-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-worthwhile-for-anyone-to-have-behind-him-a-few-generations-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by William Warburton > [The skilful disputant well knows that he never has his enemy at more advantage than when, by allowing the premises, he shows him arguing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/the-skilful-disputant-well-knows-that-he-never-has-his-enemy-at-more/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Orthodoxy is my doxy - heterodoxy is another man's doxy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/orthodoxy-is-my-doxy-heterodoxy-is-another-man-s-doxy/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Fanaticism is a fire, which heats the mind indeed, but heats without purifying. It stimulates and ferments all the passions; but it rectifies none…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/fanaticism-is-a-fire-which-heats-the-mind-indeed-but-heats-without/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [A lie has no legs, and cannot stand; but it has wings, and can fly far and wide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/a-lie-has-no-legs-and-cannot-stand-but-it-has-wings-and-can-fly-far/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Reason is the test of ridicule, not ridicule the test of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/reason-is-the-test-of-ridicule-not-ridicule-the-test-of-truth/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Without enthusiasm, the adventurer could never kindle that fire in his followers which is so necessary to consolidate their mutual interests; for no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/without-enthusiasm-the-adventurer-could-never-kindle-that-fire-in-his/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [The Egyptians, by the concurrent testimony of antiquity, were among the first who taught that the soul was immortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/the-egyptians-by-the-concurrent-testimony-of-antiquity-were-among-the/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Admiration is one of the most bewitching, enthusiastic passions of the mind; and every common moralist knows that it arises from novelty and surprise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/admiration-is-one-of-the-most-bewitching-enthusiastic-passions-of-the/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Of all literary exercitations, whether designed for the use or entertainment of the world, there are none of so much importance, or so immediately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/of-all-literary-exercitations-whether-designed-for-the-use-or/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Short isolated sentences were the mode in which ancient Wisdom delighted to convey its precepts, for the regulation of life and manners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/short-isolated-sentences-were-the-mode-in-which-ancient-wisdom/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) > [Enthusiasm is that temper of the mind in which the imagination has got the better of the judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/enthusiasm-is-that-temper-of-the-mind-in-which-the-imagination-has/) [William Warburton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) [Explore all 12 William Warburton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/) ## More Ancestry quotes > [It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-worthwhile-for-anyone-to-have-behind-him-a-few-generations-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [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/) > [Being a mixed-blood person of Ojibway and European ancestry, I always found that I only heard one side of the story - that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-boyden/being-a-mixed-blood-person-of-ojibway-and-european-ancestry-i-always/) [Joseph Boyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-boyden/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I've got German, Cornish and Scottish ancestry. It might help explain my affinity for forests, the sea, and fatty foods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-maclachlan/i-ve-got-german-cornish-and-scottish-ancestry-it-might-help-explain/) [Kyle MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-maclachlan/) > [“I have always found it difficult not to be moved by Jerusalem, even when I hated it—and God knows I have hated it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/i-have-always-found-it-difficult-not-to-be-moved-by-jerusalem-even/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [I've never felt grounded because of my ancestry or my gender. I think until women get away from that they're not going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-ve-never-felt-grounded-because-of-my-ancestry-or-my-gender-i-think/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I get anxious. That lovely Jewish guilt that comes with ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-rudolph/i-get-anxious-that-lovely-jewish-guilt-that-comes-with-ancestry/) [Maya Rudolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-rudolph/) > [The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper, to shake the complacent pillars of the world. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-bethune/the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-disturb-his-duty-is-to-arouse-the/) Norman Bethune > [Both the ancestry and posterity of Grief go further than the ancestry and posterity of Joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/both-the-ancestry-and-posterity-of-grief-go-further-than-the-ancestry/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I wasn't trying to work out my own ancestry. I was trying to get people to feel slavery. I was trying to get across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wasn-t-trying-to-work-out-my-own-ancestry-i-was-trying-to-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Ancestry is not destiny,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/ancestry-is-not-destiny/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > […Even the idea of a city never entered his mind. It was as if he had walked under the millimeter of haze just above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/even-the-idea-of-a-city-never-entered-his-mind-it-was-as-if-he-had/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) [Browse all 256 Ancestry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to disparage except those who had it not; and I never knew any one to make a boast of it who had anything else to be proud of.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Warburton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew-any-one-to-disparage-except/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancestry" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew-any-one-to-disparage-except/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63e/william-warburton-36719_ancestry_high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew_999391.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“High birth is a thing which I never knew any one to disparage except those who had it not; and I never knew…” — William Warburton", "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": "William Warburton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-warburton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "High birth is a thing which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew-any-one-to-disparage-except/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-warburton/high-birth-is-a-thing-which-i-never-knew-any-one-to-disparage-except/#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 } } ] } ```