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How convenient it would be to many of our great men and great families of doubtful origin, could they have the privilege of the heroes of yore, who, whenever their origin was involved in obscurity, modestly announced themselves descended from a god.

— Washington Irving Knickerbocker's History of New York (1809)

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More quotes by Washington Irving

There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity, that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. It is only spurious pride that is morbid and sensitive, and shrinks from every touch.

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819)

A woman is more considerate in affairs of love than man; because love is more the study and business of her life.

Bracebridge Hall (1822)

There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted.

Good temper, like a sunny day, sheds a brightness over everything; it is the sweetener of toil and the soother of disquietude.

Gems for the Fireside (1882)

I am always at a loss to know how much to believe of my own stories.

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