The contents of someone's bookcase are part of his history, like an ancestral portrait."(About Books; Recoiling, Rereading, Retelling, New York Times, February 22, 1987) - Anatole Broyard
Too many of our preferences reflect nasty behaviours and states of mind that were genetically adaptive in the ancestral environment. Instead, wouldn't it be better if we rewrote our own corrupt code? - David Pearce
..........books are yours, Within whose silent chambers treasure lies Preserved from age to age; more precious far Than that accumulated store of gold And orient gems, which, for a day of need, The Sultan hides deep in ancestral tombs. These hoards of truth you can unlock at will: - William Wordsworth
For centuries we have been ripped apart by the hands of others as well as ourselves. Our personalities have been conditioned to become disconnected from our most Earthly ancestral knowledge. The days of disconnectedness are over. We must begin anew. - Dacha Avelin
...for years the first of May was the day all leases expired, and on that day mass migrations would take place, with families lugging eiderdowns and ancestral portraits through the streets, as if in parody of the march of the wagon trains. - Luc Sante