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The wisdom of our ancestors.

— Edmund Burke

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Source, in full

Burke is credited by some with the first use of this phrase, in Observations on a Late Publication on Present State of the Nation (1769), p. 516; also in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770) and Discussion on the Traitorous Correspondence Bill (1793)

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Wisdom

More quotes by Edmund Burke

Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in my opinion, is safe.

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

Speech at a County Meeting of Buckinghamshire (1784)

You can never plan the future by the past.

A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)

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'The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.'

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Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools.

George Chapman All Fools (1605)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edmund Burke (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.