Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclusion, that every age of the world has increased, and still increases, the real wealth,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of their master who, in the abuse of absolute power, does… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But the sages of Greece and Rome turned aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the ordinary occupations of life and study,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A people who still remembered that their ancestors had been the masters of the world would have applauded, with conscious pride, the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The division of the Roman world between the sons of Theodosius marks the final establishment of the empire of the East, which,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
One must search diligently to find laudatory comments on education (other than those pious platitudes which are fodder for commencement speeches). It… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial government, as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The knowledge that is suited to our situation and powers, the whole compass of moral, natural, and mathematical science, was neglected by… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If the emperor had capriciously decreed the death of the most eminent and virtuous citizen of the republic, the cruel order would… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
During the games of the Circus, he had, imprudently or designedly, performed the manumission of a slave in the presence of the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The grateful applause of the clergy has consecrated the memory of a prince, who indulged their passions and promoted their interest. Constantine… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Philosophy had instructed Julian to compare the advantages of action and retirement; but the elevation of his birth and the accidents of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It is incumbent on us diligently to remember that the kingdom of heaven was promised to the poor in spirit, and that… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and philosophic world to those evidences which were presented by the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The two Antonines (for it is of them that we are now speaking) governed the Roman world forty-two years, with the same… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Actuated by these motives, and apprehensive of disturbing the repose of an unsettled reign, Julian surprised the world by an edict which… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But in almost every province of the Roman world, an army of fanatics, without authority and without discipline, invaded the peaceful inhabitants;… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The nations, and the sects, of the Roman world, admitted with equal credulity, and similar abhorrence, the reality of that infernal art… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
That country [Carthage] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the princes and prelates… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
If all the barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West:… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations) I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of science… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of their master who, in the abuse of absolute power, does not proceed… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share
![“The nations, and the sects, of the Roman world, admitted with equal credulity, and similar abhorrence, the reality of that infernal art [witchcraft], which was able to control the eternal order of the planets, and the voluntary operations of the human mind. . . . They believed, with the wildest…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/2cd/edward-gibbon-710_abhorrence_the-nations-and-the-sects-of-the-roman-w_1507076.png)
