History Quotes by Edward Gibbon

The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave.

— Edward Gibbon

The voice of history is often little more than the organ of hatred or flattery.

— Edward Gibbon

History should be to the political economist a wellspring of experience and wisdom.

— Edward Gibbon

The frequent repetition of miracles serves to provoke, where it does not subdue, the reason of mankind.

— Edward Gibbon

History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

— Edward Gibbon

History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

— Edward Gibbon

History, in fact, is no more than a list of the crimes of humanity, human follies and accidents

— Edward Gibbon

It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.

— Edward Gibbon

There exists in human nature a strong propensity to depreciate the advantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present times.

— Edward Gibbon

The most distinguished merit of those two officers was their respective prowess, of the one in the combats of Bacchus, of the…

— Edward Gibbon

The subject, however various and important, has already been so frequently, so ably, and so successfully discussed, that it is now grown…

— Edward Gibbon

Such events may be disbelieved or disregarded; but the charity of a bishop, Acacius of Amida, whose name might have dignified the…

— Edward Gibbon

Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence,…

— Edward Gibbon

These idle disputants overlooked the invariable laws of nature, which have connected peace with innocence, plenty with industry, and safety with valour.

— Edward Gibbon

While the Romans languished under the ignominious tyranny of eunuchs and bishops, the praises of Julian were repeated with transport in every…

— Edward Gibbon

Under a democratical government the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and afterwards lost, if…

— Edward Gibbon

His manners were less pure, but his character was equally amiable with that of his father. Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library…

— Edward Gibbon

The emperor of the East was no longer guided by the wisdom and authority of his elder brother, whose death happened towards…

— Edward Gibbon

The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without…

— Edward Gibbon

The fabric of a mighty state, which has been reared by the labours of successive ages, could not be overturned by the…

— Edward Gibbon

The active cavalry of Scythia is always followed, in their most distant and rapid incursions, by an adequate number of spare horses,…

— Edward Gibbon

The Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mention the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserve their compassion…

— Edward Gibbon

The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history,…

— Edward Gibbon

A people who still remembered that their ancestors had been the masters of the world would have applauded, with conscious pride, the…

— Edward Gibbon

“[A historian] will more seriously deplore the loss of the Byzantine libraries, which were destroyed or scattered in the general confusion: one…

— Edward Gibbon

“The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the…

— Edward Gibbon

That public virtue which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the…

— Edward Gibbon

The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; and the use of letters is the principal…

— Edward Gibbon

The brutal soldiers satisfied their sensual appetites without consulting either the inclination or the duties of their female captives; and a nice…

— Edward Gibbon

It was the fashion of the times to attribute every remarkable event to the particular will of the Deity; the alterations of…

— Edward Gibbon

Julian sincerely abhorred the system of oriental despotism which Diocletian, Constantine, and the patient habits of four score years, had established in…

— Edward Gibbon

If the emperor had capriciously decreed the death of the most eminent and virtuous citizen of the republic, the cruel order would…

— Edward Gibbon

The history of empires is the history of human misery.

— Edward Gibbon

It is seldom that minds long exercised in business have formed any habits of conversing with themselves, and in the loss of…

— Edward Gibbon

Truth, naked, unblushing truth, the first virtue of all serious history, must be the sole recommendation of this personal narrative.

— Edward Gibbon

Philosophy alone can boast (and perhaps it is no more than the boast of philosophy), that her gentle hand is able to…

— Edward Gibbon

History has scarcely deigned to notice [Libius Severus's] birth, his elevation, his character, or his death.

— Edward Gibbon

The history of empires is the record of human misery; the history of the sciences is that of the greatness and happiness…

— Edward Gibbon

If this Punic war was carried on without any effusion of blood, it was owing much less to the moderation than to…

— Edward Gibbon

Such, indeed, is the policy of civil war: severely to remember injuries, and to forget the most important services. Revenge is profitable,…

— Edward Gibbon