Original artwork, not a still
Every man is his own ancestor, and every man is his own heir. He devises his own future, and he inherits his own past.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker argues that each person both creates and receives their own legacy. Choices made now shape the future, while the past, including one's own earlier acts, becomes what one inherits. Ancestor and heir are the same person at different moments.
Context reviewed
