“Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.”
Jesus ben Sirach, 1611 · Sirach 44:1, King James Version Apocrypha
Chapter 5
On Kin and Roots
“Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.”
Jesus ben Sirach, 1611 · Sirach 44:14, King James Version Apocrypha
“We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come.”
The Book of Psalms, 1611 · Psalm 78:4, King James Version
“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?”
The Book of Joshua, 1611 · Joshua 4:6, King James Version, on the twelve stones set up at the Jordan
“Rivers have sources, trees have roots.”
Chinese proverb, 1875 · literal rendering of a saying on cause and origin
“We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”
George Eliot, 1860 · pen name of Mary Ann Evans, from The Mill on the Floss
“I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night.”
Frederick Douglass, 1845 · American abolitionist, born enslaved in Maryland
“In the days of slavery not very much attention was given to family history and family records.”
Booker T. Washington, 1901 · American educator, founder of Tuskegee Institute
“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.”
The Book of Proverbs, 1611 · Proverbs 13:22, King James Version
Children who knew more about where their grandparents grew up, how their parents met and what their family had survived showed higher self-esteem and a stronger sense of control over their lives.
Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush, 2010 · Emory University family narratives research, the Do You Know scale
It was not the happy stories that mattered most. Families who told coherent, emotionally honest stories about the hard things raised children who coped better over the following two years.
Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke, 2010 · Emory University study of family narrative and adolescent coping
In a study of more than 1,500 British adolescents, the more involved their grandmothers and grandfathers were, the fewer emotional problems and the more kindness toward others the young people showed.
Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz and colleagues, 2009 · study of grandparenting and adolescent adjustment across family types
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