I love words, as I am sure that many of you know by now. Today, instead of digging around for new genealogy words that I do not know the meanings of, I decided to find some inspiring genealogy quotes. These quotes help to put all of our time and energy spend researching ancestors into perspective. Keep one or more of these handy for when you feel as though your research does not matter, or when you are getting frustrated because it is not going smoothly.
For example, this quote for C.S. Lewis reminds us that even in this world where people seem to exist in their own little worlds and sometimes become increasingly isolated from each other despite their close physical proximity, the fact remains that we are interconnected both in the present moment and in the past. “Human beings look separate because you see them walking about separately. But then we are so made that we can see only the present moment. If we could see the past, then of course it would look different. For there was a time when every man was part of his mother, and (earlier still) part of his father as well, and when they were part of his grandparents. If you could see humanity spread out in time, as God sees it, it would look like one single growing thing–rather like a very complicated tree. Every individual would appear connected with every other.”
Both the human and the genetic aspects of genealogy are addressed by this wonderful quote from Shirley Abbott : “We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.” Researching our ancestors helps us learn about the people that they were and the lives that they led, but it also provides clues into things that we can not see, things that can affect our health – things that we can address best if we know that they are there before they make themselves known.
Of all of the wonderful genealogy quotes that I read, though, this one from Ralph Waldo Emerson stood out as a simple and beautiful statement about how the traits of our ancestors live on in the present generations. “In different hours, a man represents each of several of his ancestors, as if there were seven or eight of us rolled up in each man’s skin,—seven or eight ancestors at least, and they constitute the variety of notes for that new piece of music which his life is.” Feeling inspired yet?
Photo by imelenchon on morguefile.com.