About Edward Gibbon
He also served briefly as a politician. The six volumes were released between 1776 and 1789 and earned both critical acclaim and strong sales. His writing is praised for its ironic tone, careful use of original sources and sharp criticism of organized religion.
![“[All] the manly virtues were oppressed by the servile and pusillanimous reign of the monks.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/cb5/edward-gibbon-710_manly_all-the-manly-virtues-were-oppressed-by_2529391.png)
![“[Personal] industry must be faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personal interest.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/62d/edward-gibbon-710_excited_personal-industry-must-be-faint-and-lang_1344933.png)
![“[The Goths'] poverty was incurable; since the most liberal donatives were soon dissipated in wasteful luxury, and the most fertile estates became barren in their hands.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/89a/edward-gibbon-710_barren_the-goths-poverty-was-incurable-since-th_978857.jpg)
![“In this primitive and abject state [of hunters and gatherers], which ill deserves the name of society, the human brute, without arts or laws, almost without sense or language, is poorly distinguished from the rest of the animal creation.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/de0/edward-gibbon-710_animal_in-this-primitive-and-abject-state-of-hu_2722444.png)
![“[The] emperor of the West, the feeble and dissolute Valentinian, [had] reached his thirty-fifth year without attaining the age of reason or courage.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/012/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-emperor-of-the-west-the-feeble-and-d_1736985.png)
![“[But] the man who dares not expose his life in the defence of his children and his property, has lost in society the first and most active energies of nature.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/9b9/edward-gibbon-710_active_but-the-man-who-dares-not-expose-his-lif_2242963.png)
