Q0217

Ibn Khaldun

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

Man is a child of customs, not of his ancestors.
Thinker Ibn Khaldun
School Philosophy of History
Source Muqaddimah
Theme Society
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Muqaddimah, within the tradition of Philosophy of History. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of society, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Ibn Khaldun's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Ibn Khaldun. (n.d.). Man is a child of customs, not of his ancestors. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0217

MLA: Ibn Khaldun. “Man is a child of customs, not of….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0217.

Chicago: Ibn Khaldun. “Man is a child of customs, not of….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0217.

Same theme

More on society

  1. Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
  2. Habit is the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious conservative agent.
  3. Study problems, import theories, reorganize the national heritage, and recreate civilization.
  4. When the granaries are full, people know ritual and restraint; when food and clothing are sufficient, they know honor and shame.
  5. Toward the past history of one’s own country, one should hold a warmth of feeling and a sense of respect.

Browse the society theme