Weekend Words: Heir
"I do see myself as the heir to a vast, great, rich culture of painting — of art in general — which we have lost, but which places obligations on us."
In a well-received speech on Wednesday night, Obama hailed Hillary Clinton as his political heir.
Nor shall this peace sleep with her: but as when
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new create another heir,
As great in admiration as herself
—William Shakespeare, Henry VIII
I the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Locksley Hall”
I’m the heir apparent to the heir presumptive.
—Princess Margaret
What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,
The labor of an age in pilèd stones,
Or that his hallowed relics should be hid
Under a star-y-pointing pyramid?
Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?
—John Milton, “On Shakespeare”
It is not by blood, anyhow, that man’s true continuity is established: Alexander’s direct heir is Caesar, and not the frail infant born of a Persian princess in an Asiatic citadel; Epaminondas, dying without issue, was right to boast that he had Victories for daughters.
—Marguerite Yourcenar, Memoirs of Hadrian
Those in supreme power always suspect and hate their next heir.
—Tacitus
I do see myself as the heir to a vast, great, rich culture of painting — of art in general — which we have lost, but which places obligations on us.
—Gerhard Richter
The patient is not likely to recover who makes the doctor his heir.
—Thomas Fuller
The weeping of an heir is laughter in disguise.
—Publilius Syrus
To state the facts frankly is not to despair the future nor indict the past. The prudent heir takes careful inventory of his legacies and gives a faithful accounting to those whom he owes an obligation of trust.
—John F. Kennedy
When Caroline Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 as her father’s rightful heir, she laid upon him the mantle of Camelot and the enduring mystique of John F. Kennedy, who, according to polls, continues to be America’s most beloved president.
—Kitty Kelley
You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world
—Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations
