Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the princes… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
[Instead] of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. — 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
As long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It is seldom that minds long exercised in business have formed any habits of conversing with themselves, and in the loss of… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
The Indian who fells the tree that he may gather the fruit, and the Arab who plunders the caravans of commerce are… — 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
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
The most successful of the Tartar princes assumed the military command, to which he was entitled by the superiority either of merit… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
So long as mankind shall continue to lavish more praise upon its destroyers than upon its benefactors war shall remain the chief… — Edward Gibbon Copy Share Image
It has always been my practice to cast a long paragraph in a single mould, to try it by my ear, to… — 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
![“[Instead] of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f89/edward-gibbon-710_destroyed_instead-of-inquiring-why-the-roman-empir_626622.jpg)
![“As long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the most exalted characters”; “[the barbarians’] poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the…” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0d0/edward-gibbon-710_applause_as-long-as-mankind-shall-continue-to-bes_1024385.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)
