Born is a Cellar, . . . and living in a Garret.

Say, when the ground our father Adam till'd, And mother Eve the humble distaff held, Who then his pedigree presumed to trace, Or challenged the prerogative of place? [Lat., Primus Adam duro cum vertet arva ligone, Pensaque de vili deceret Eva colo: Ecquis in hoc poterat vir nobilis orbe videri? Et modo quisquam alios ante locandue erir?

One who is proud of ancestry is like a turnip; there is nothing good of him but that which is underground

A degenerate nobleman, or one that is proud of his birth, is like a turnip. There is nothing good of him but that which is underground.

He is not only dull himself, but the cause of dullness in others.

He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.