The quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The House of the Seven Gables" reflects on the notion of family and its impact on individuals and society. The idea of planting a family suggests a desire to create a legacy, but Hawthorne implies that this desire can lead to various troubles and wrongdoings. It emphasizes how the clinging to lineage can create a sense of entitlement and hinder personal growth.

Furthermore, Hawthorne advocates for the merging of families into the larger population every few decades, suggesting that this dilution of family ties can foster a more harmonious existence. By encouraging the forgetting of ancestors, he argues that individuals are liberated from the weight of familial expectations, allowing them to forge their own identities within the broader human experience.