"Degeneracy" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... them I say that they are unable to take Nobility away from him who possesses it. To bestow it they have not the power, since by nature they are vile, and because of their vileness they are opposed to Nobility. And here by vileness one means baseness, through degeneracy, which is directly opposite to Nobility: for the one opposite thing cannot be the maker of the other, neither is it possible to be, for the reason given above, which is briefly added to the text, saying, "No painter gives a form That ...
— The Banquet (Il Convito) • Dante Alighieri
... reproduced at a distance of three generations his great-great-grandmother, Adelaide Fouque. He did not look more than twelve years old, and his intelligence was that of a child of five. There was in him a relaxation of tissues, due to degeneracy, and the slightest exertion produced hemorrhage. Charles was not kindly treated by his stepfather, and generally lived with his great-grandmother Felicite Rougon. He was frequently taken to visit the aged Adelaide Fouque in the asylum at Les Tulettes, and on one occasion, in 1873, when he chanced ...
— A Zola Dictionary • J. G. Patterson
... blood in the bulls resorted to, for that will give the only assurance that they will transmit their own valuable properties to their offspring; but he must not depend on this alone, or he will soon run the risk of degeneracy." ...
— Cattle and Cattle-breeders • William M'Combie
... with a young man of good birth before exposing him to the scandalous manners of our age! These precautions are painful but necessary; negligence in this matter is the ruin of all our young men; degeneracy is the result of youthful excesses, and it is these excesses which make men what they are. Old and base in their vices, their hearts are shrivelled, because their worn-out bodies were corrupted at an early age; they have scarcely strength to stir. The subtlety of their thoughts ...
— Emile • Jean-Jacques Rousseau
... or imbecility. Morel has traced, through four generations, the family history of a youth who was admitted to the asylum at Rouen while in a state of stupidity and semi-idiocy. The following summary of his investigations illustrates the natural course of degeneracy as it extends through successive generations: immorality, depravity, alcoholic excess, and moral degradation, in the great-grandfather, who was killed in a tavern brawl; hereditary drunkenness, maniacal attacks, ...
— The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English • R. V. Pierce
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