Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) was a prolific English historian and essayist. In Sartor Resartus, a discussion of the fictional biography of Herr Teufelsdröckh, Carlyle argues against archaic social and political traditions. Carlyle quotes Teufelsdröckh in the chapter entitled "Organic Filaments":
"'If now an existing generation of men stand so woven together, not less indissolubly does generation with generation. Has thou ever meditated on that word, Tradition: how we inherit not Life only, but all the garniture and form of Life; and work, and speak, and even think and feel, as our Fathers, and primeval grandfathers, from beginning, have given it us.'"
Carlyle, Thomas. "Organic Filaments." Sartor Resartus: The Life and Times of Herr Teufelsdröckh, 194-202. New York: Rand McNally, 1900, p. 196
Annotation by: Koirala/Pritchett