A jurisdiction thus vague and arbitrary was exposed to the most dangerous abuse: the substance, as well as the form, of justice… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Passion, interest, or caprice, suggested daily motives for the dissolution of marriage; a word, a sign, a message, a letter, the mandate… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
There is nothing perhaps more adverse to nature and reason than to hold in obedience remote countries and foreign nations, in opposition… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[Personal] industry must be faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personal interest. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Freedom is the first wish of our heart; freedom is the first blessing of nature; and unless we bind ourselves with voluntary… — 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 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
But the wisdom and authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest. — 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
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
A reformer should be exempt from the suspicion of interest, and he must possess the confidence and esteem of those whom he… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Yet the arts of Severus cannot be justified by the most ample privileges of state reason. He promised only to betray; he… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[It] is the interest as well as duty of a sovereign to maintain the authority of the laws. — 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 Image
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 Image
[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable. — 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 race was… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
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 Image
![“[Personal] industry must be faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personal interest.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/62d/edward-gibbon-710_excited_personal-industry-must-be-faint-and-lang_1344933.jpg)
![“[It] is the interest as well as duty of a sovereign to maintain the authority of the laws.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/821/edward-gibbon-710_authority_it-is-the-interest-as-well-as-duty-of-a_2999490.jpg)
![“That country [Carthage] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws; and every step of intestine discord was marked by some deplorable victory of savage man over civilized society.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/70c/edward-gibbon-710_barbarism_that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinkin_393.jpg)
![“[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/338/edward-gibbon-710_byzantine_in-the-national-and-religious-conflict-o_29382.jpg)
![“[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4de/edward-gibbon-710_delay_every-hour-of-delay-abates-the-fame-and_94668.jpg)
