[The] operation of the wisest laws is imperfect and precarious. They seldom inspire virtue, they cannot always restrain vice. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
But a law, however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the times . . . — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[We should] suspend our belief of every tale that deviates from the laws of nature and the character of man. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A Locrian, who proposed any new law, stood forth in the assembly of the people with a cord round his neck, and… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
A nation ignorant of the equal benefits of liberty and law, must be awed by the flashes of arbitrary power: the cruelty… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[The] penalty of death was abolished in the Roman empire, a law of mercy most delightful to the humane theorist, but of… — 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… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
These idle disputants overlooked the invariable laws of nature, which have connected peace with innocence, plenty with industry, and safety with valour. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The books of jurisprudence were interesting to few, and entertaining to none: their value was connected with present use, and they sunk… — 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
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
In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most… — 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
This variety of objects will suspend, for some time, the course of the narrative; but the interruption will be censured only by… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character… — 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
According to the law of custom, and perhaps of reason, foreign travel completes the education of an English gentleman. — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The law of nature instructs most animals to cherish and educate their infant progeny. The law of reason inculcates to the human… — 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
In this primitive and abject state [of hunters and gatherers], which ill deserves the name of society, the human brute, without arts… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorize the violation of every positive law. How far that or any other… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
Women [in ancient Rome] were condemned to the perpetual tutelage of parents, husbands, or guardians; a sex created to please and obey… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
In the most rigorous [Roman] laws, a wife was condemned to support a gamester, a drunkard, or a libertine, unless he were… — 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
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
![“[The] operation of the wisest laws is imperfect and precarious. They seldom inspire virtue, they cannot always restrain vice.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cb3/edward-gibbon-710_character_the-operation-of-the-wisest-laws-is-impe_490418.jpg)
![“[We should] suspend our belief of every tale that deviates from the laws of nature and the character of man.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/841/edward-gibbon-710_belief_we-should-suspend-our-belief-of-every-ta_1033720.jpg)
![“[The] penalty of death was abolished in the Roman empire, a law of mercy most delightful to the humane theorist, but of which the practice, in a large and vicious community, is seldom consistent with the public safety.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/37b/edward-gibbon-710_community_the-penalty-of-death-was-abolished-in-th_414077.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)
![“[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)
![“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/quotes/img-quotes/de0/edward-gibbon-710_animal_in-this-primitive-and-abject-state-of-hu_2722444.jpg)
![“Women [in ancient Rome] were condemned to the perpetual tutelage of parents, husbands, or guardians; a sex created to please and obey was never supposed to have attained the age of reason and experience. Such, at least, was the stern and haughty spirit of the ancient law . . .” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b7f/edward-gibbon-710_age_women-in-ancient-rome-were-condemned-to_2414906.jpg)
![“In the most rigorous [Roman] laws, a wife was condemned to support a gamester, a drunkard, or a libertine, unless he were guilty of homicide, poison, or sacrilege, in which cases the marriage, as it should seem, might have been dissolved by the hand of the executioner.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f58/edward-gibbon-710_cases_in-the-most-rigorous-roman-laws-a-wife-w_2829227.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)
