From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations) I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Such, indeed, is the policy of civil war: severely to remember injuries, and to forget the most important services. Revenge is profitable,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The possession and the enjoyment of property are the pledges which bind a civilised people to an improved country. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The awful mysteries of the Christian faith and worship were concealed from the eyes of strangers, and even of catechumens, with an… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
History has scarcely deigned to notice [Libius Severus's] birth, his elevation, his character, or his death. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The history of empires is the record of human misery; the history of the sciences is that of the greatness and happiness… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
If this Punic war was carried on without any effusion of blood, it was owing much less to the moderation than to… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It is scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption.… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Theodosius was chaste and temperate; he enjoyed, without excess, the sensual and social pleasures of the table, and the warmth of his… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The distinctions of personal merit and influence, so conspicuous in a republic, so feeble and obscure under a monarchy, were abolished by… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But the human character, however it may be exalted or depressed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by degrees to its proper… — 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
When Julian ascended the throne, he declared his impatience to embrace and reward the Syrian sophist, who had preserved, in a degenerate… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
As long as the same passions and interests subsist among mankind, the questions of war and peace, of justice and policy, which… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of pleasure and… — 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
Julian sincerely abhorred the system of oriental despotism which Diocletian, Constantine, and the patient habits of four score years, had established in… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It was the fashion of the times to attribute every remarkable event to the particular will of the Deity; the alterations of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
“The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
“[A historian] will more seriously deplore the loss of the Byzantine libraries, which were destroyed or scattered in the general confusion: one… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
That public virtue which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; and the use of letters is the principal… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The brutal soldiers satisfied their sensual appetites without consulting either the inclination or the duties of their female captives; and a nice… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The emperor of the East was no longer guided by the wisdom and authority of his elder brother, whose death happened towards… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The fabric of a mighty state, which has been reared by the labours of successive ages, could not be overturned by the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The active cavalry of Scythia is always followed, in their most distant and rapid incursions, by an adequate number of spare horses,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history,… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mention the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserve their compassion… — 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
Fashion was the only law, pleasure the only pursuit, and the splendour of dress and furniture was the only distinction of the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The manly pride of the Romans, content with substantial power, had left to the vanity of the East the forms and ceremonies… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The triumph of the Romans was indeed sullied by their treatment of the captive king, whom they hung on a gibbet without… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The comparative view of the powers of the magistrates, in two remarkable instances, is alone sufficient to represent the whole system of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Among the innumerable monuments of architecture constructed by the Romans, how many have escaped the notice of history, how few have resisted… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed by names; nor was he deceived in his expectation, that the senate and people would… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The elegance of dress, of motion, and of manners gives a lustre to beauty, and inflames the senses through the imagination. Luxurious… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Where the subject lies so far beyond our reach, the difference between the highest and the lowest of human understandings may indeed… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume the appearance and produce the effects of a treasonable correspondence with… — 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
![“History has scarcely deigned to notice [Libius Severus's] birth, his elevation, his character, or his death.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/846/edward-gibbon-710_birth_history-has-scarcely-deigned-to-notice-l_745238.png)
![“[A historian] will more seriously deplore the loss of the Byzantine libraries, which were destroyed or scattered in the general confusion: one hundred and twenty thousand manuscripts are said to have disappeared; ten volumes might be purchased for a single ducat; and the same ignominious price…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e5/edward-gibbon-710_ancient-greece_a-historian-will-more-seriously-deplore_638477.png)
![“The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without fear, slow or rapid according to the exigencies of the moment; that in the deepest distress he was animated by real or apparent hope, but that he was…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56a/edward-gibbon-710_animated_the-spectator-and-historian-of-belisariu_2985677.png)
