The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Children inherit their parents' traits — the proverb of every visible family resemblance.

Origin

An old Germanic proverb (German: *Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm*; Swedish: *äpplet faller inte långt från trädet*) that entered American English via 19th-century German immigration. Recorded in English by 1839 in Ralph Waldo Emerson's journals. The image is literal — an apple from a tree lands more or less directly beneath it.

Modern usage

Standard reaction to any visible family resemblance — temperament, talent, looks, or vice. Quoted approvingly when the child inherits the parent's strengths and disapprovingly when they inherit the flaws. The reverse direction — the child diverging dramatically — gets the rejoinder 'the apple rolled away from the tree.'

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