Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The mark of a Scot of all classes [is that] he ... remembers and cherishes the memory of his forebears, good or bad; and there burns alive in him a sense of identity with the dead even to the twentieth generation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the importance of remembering one's ancestors as a core part of personal identity.
Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes the deep-seated cultural identity that Scots maintain through remembrance of their ancestors. This connection to forebears, regardless of their deeds, fosters a sense of belonging and continuity, which influences the values and identity of individuals across generations.
Themes
IdentityAncestorsMemoryHeritageBelonging
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about cultural identity, one might say, 'As Robert Louis Stevenson noted, we must cherish our forebears to understand who we are today.'
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes →Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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