---
title: "33 May Quotes By Edward Gibbon"
description: "33 May quotes by Edward Gibbon. Plus more from Edward Gibbon and more May sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/638/edward-gibbon-710_books_let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-o_3027669.png"
---

> [Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which our studies may point. The use of reading is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-ourselves-an-end-to-which-our/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/638/edward-gibbon-710_books_let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-o_3027669.png)

> [Active valour may often be the present of nature; but such patient diligence can be the fruit only of habit and discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/active-valour-may-often-be-the-present-of-nature-but-such-patient/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/edward-gibbon-710_active_active-valour-may-often-be-the-present-o_2534123.png)

> [The revolution of ages may bring round the same calamities; but ages may revolve without producing a Tacitus to describe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-revolution-of-ages-may-bring-round-the-same-calamities-but-ages/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e49/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-revolution-of-ages-may-bring-round-t_1384293.png)

> [ \[Whole\] generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/whole-generations-may-be-swept-away-by-the-madness-of-kings-in-the/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82a/edward-gibbon-710_generations_whole-generations-may-be-swept-away-by-t_3059990.png)

> [Such events may be disbelieved or disregarded; but the charity of a bishop, Acacius of Amida, whose name might have dignified the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/such-events-may-be-disbelieved-or-disregarded-but-the-charity-of-a/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/edward-gibbon-710_bishops_such-events-may-be-disbelieved-or-disreg_3023167.png)

> [The mathematics are distinguished by a particular privilege, that is, in the course of ages, they may always advance and can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-particular-privilege-that-is/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-p_238553.png)

> [A philosopher may deplore the eternal discords of the human race, but he will confess, that the desire of spoil is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-philosopher-may-deplore-the-eternal-discords-of-the-human-race-but/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/edward-gibbon-710_conquest_a-philosopher-may-deplore-the-eternal-di_186312.png)

> [The ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may entertain an active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of its own power:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-and-dangerous-may-entertain-an/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-an_258733.png)

> [Genius may anticipate the season of maturity; but in the education of a people, as in that of an individual, memory must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/genius-may-anticipate-the-season-of-maturity-but-in-the-education-of/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-gibbon-710_anticipate_genius-may-anticipate-the-season-of-matu_2971578.png)

> [Where the subject lies so far beyond our reach, the difference between the highest and the lowest of human understandings may indeed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/where-the-subject-lies-so-far-beyond-our-reach-the-difference-between/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/edward-gibbon-710_confidence_where-the-subject-lies-so-far-beyond-our_378258.png)

> [The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume the appearance and produce the effects of a treasonable correspondence with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-incapacity-of-a-weak-and-distracted-government-may-often-assume/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/edward-gibbon-710_appearance_the-incapacity-of-a-weak-and-distracted_3037340.jpg)

> [To the love of pleasure we may therefore ascribe most of the agreeable, to the love of action we may attribute most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/to-the-love-of-pleasure-we-may-therefore-ascribe-most-of-the/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae8/edward-gibbon-710_action_to-the-love-of-pleasure-we-may-therefore_2774288.png)

> [The single combats of the heroes of history or fable amuse our fancy and engage our affections: the skillful evolutions of war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-single-combats-of-the-heroes-of-history-or-fable-amuse-our-fancy/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/edward-gibbon-710_affection_the-single-combats-of-the-heroes-of-hist_717866.png)

> [An absolute monarch, who is rich without patrimony, may be charitable without merit; and Constantine too easily believed that he should purchase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/an-absolute-monarch-who-is-rich-without-patrimony-may-be-charitable/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/edward-gibbon-710_absolutes_an-absolute-monarch-who-is-rich-without_165741.png)

> [Yet the experience of four thousand years should enlarge our hopes, and diminish our apprehensions: we cannot determine to what height the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/yet-the-experience-of-four-thousand-years-should-enlarge-our-hopes/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_yet-the-experience-of-four-thousand-year_2546793.png)

> [The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-laws-of-war-that-restrain-the-exercise-of-national-rapine-and/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_the-laws-of-war-that-restrain-the-exerci_881697.png)

> [The German huts, open on every side to the eye of indiscretion or jealousy, were a better safeguard of conjugal fidelity than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-german-huts-open-on-every-side-to-the-eye-of-indiscretion-or/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/edward-gibbon-710_bolts_the-german-huts-open-on-every-side-to-th_1118720.png)

> [The archiepiscopal throne of Macedonius, which had been polluted with so much Christian blood, was successively filled by Eudoxus and Damophilus. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-macedonius-which-had-been-polluted-with/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/edward-gibbon-710_assertion_the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-macedonius_881831.jpg)

> [The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-danger-may-praise-without/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e87/edward-gibbon-710_administration_the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-dan_166620.jpg)

> [The love of action is a principle of a much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often leads to anger, to ambition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-love-of-action-is-a-principle-of-a-much-stronger-and-more/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/edward-gibbon-710_ability_the-love-of-action-is-a-principle-of-a-m_2777588.png)

> [In their censures of luxury the fathers are extremely minute and circumstantial; and among the various articles which excite their pious indignation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-their-censures-of-luxury-the-fathers-are-extremely-minute-and/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7df/edward-gibbon-710_articles_in-their-censures-of-luxury-the-fathers_2185371.jpg)

> [To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial government, as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/to-resume-in-a-few-words-the-system-of-the-imperial-government-as-it/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/edward-gibbon-710_absolute-monarchy_to-resume-in-a-few-words-the-system-of-t_2287859.png)

> [There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of pleasure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/there-are-two-very-natural-propensities-which-we-may-distinguish-in/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/edward-gibbon-710_action_there-are-two-very-natural-propensities_327329.jpg)

> [The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorize the violation of every positive law. How far that or any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-urgent-consideration-of-the-public-safety-may-undoubtedly/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/edward-gibbon-710_consideration_the-urgent-consideration-of-the-public-s_2908705.jpg)

> [A state of skepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-state-of-skepticism-and-suspense-may-amuse-a-few-inquisitive-minds/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/edward-gibbon-710_atheism_a-state-of-skepticism-and-suspense-may-a_638174.jpg)

> [We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclusion, that every age of the world has increased, and still increases, the real wealth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/we-may-therefore-acquiesce-in-the-pleasing-conclusion-that-every-age/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/edward-gibbon-710_age_we-may-therefore-acquiesce-in-the-pleasi_1994097.png)

> [The savage nations of the globe are the common enemies of civilized society; and we may inquire, with anxious curiosity, whether Europe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-savage-nations-of-the-globe-are-the-common-enemies-of-civilized/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d5/edward-gibbon-710_anxious_the-savage-nations-of-the-globe-are-the_2822814.jpg)

> [Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/instructed-by-history-and-reflection-julian-was-persuaded-that-if-the/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/edward-gibbon-710_body_instructed-by-history-and-reflection-jul_695761.png)

> [The Indian who fells the tree that he may gather the fruit, and the Arab who plunders the caravans of commerce are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-may-gather-the-fruit-and-the/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/edward-gibbon-710_blessing_the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-ma_1707736.png)

> [But the human character, however it may be exalted or depressed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by degrees to its proper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-human-character-however-it-may-be-exalted-or-depressed-by-a/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/871/edward-gibbon-710_adapted_but-the-human-character-however-it-may-b_2379069.png)

> [The active cavalry of Scythia is always followed, in their most distant and rapid incursions, by an adequate number of spare horses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-active-cavalry-of-scythia-is-always-followed-in-their-most/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f4/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-active-cavalry-of-scythia-is-always_859038.png)

> [The ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps the only example of the total extirpation of any ancient and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-ruin-of-paganism-in-the-age-of-theodosius-is-perhaps-the-only/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-ruin-of-paganism-in-the-age-of-theod_357188.jpg)

> [In the various states of society, armies are recruited from very different motives. Barbarians are urged by the love of war; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-the-various-states-of-society-armies-are-recruited-from-very/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edward-gibbon-710_animated_in-the-various-states-of-society-armies_537211.jpg)

## Other authors on May

## More by Edward Gibbon

> [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [The sectaries of a persecuted religion, depressed by fear, animated with resentment, and perhaps heated by enthusiasm, are seldom in a proper temper of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-sectaries-of-a-persecuted-religion-depressed-by-fear-animated/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [A heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-heart-to-resolve-a-head-to-contrive-and-a-hand-to-execute/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [ \[In\] the national and religious conflict of the \[Byzantine and Saracen\] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-the-national-and-religious-conflict-of-the-byzantine-and-saracen/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/instead-of-a-perpetual-and-perfect-measure-of-the-divine-will-the/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the princes and prelates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/constantinople-was-the-principal-seat-and-fortress-of-arianism-and-in/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/it-is-the-common-calamity-of-old-age-to-lose-whatever-might-have/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/if-a-man-were-called-to-fix-the-period-in-the-history-of-the-world/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [If all the barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/if-all-the-barbarian-conquerors-had-been-annihilated-in-the-same-hour/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-desire-of-obtaining-the-advantages-and-of-escaping-the/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [ \[Every\] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/every-hour-of-delay-abates-the-fame-and-force-of-the-invader-and/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, and they lose sight of Heaven while they are employed in measuring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-science-of-the-church-is-neglected-for-the-study-of-geometry-and/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [The progress of despotism tends to disappoint its own purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-progress-of-despotism-tends-to-disappoint-its-own-purpose/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations) I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/from-the-paths-of-blood-and-such-is-the-history-of-nations-i-cannot/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of their master who, in the abuse of absolute power, does not proceed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-nation-of-slaves-is-always-prepared-to-applaud-the-clemency-of/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/#itemlist",
            "name": "33 May Quotes By Edward Gibbon",
            "numberOfItems": 33,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which our studies may point. The use of reading is to aid us in thinking.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-ourselves-an-end-to-which-our/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/638/edward-gibbon-710_books_let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-o_3027669.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/638/edward-gibbon-710_books_let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-o_3027669.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/638/edward-gibbon-710_books_let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-o_3027669.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which our studies may point. The use of reading…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Active valour may often be the present of nature; but such patient diligence can be the fruit only of habit and discipline.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/active-valour-may-often-be-the-present-of-nature-but-such-patient/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/edward-gibbon-710_active_active-valour-may-often-be-the-present-o_2534123.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/edward-gibbon-710_active_active-valour-may-often-be-the-present-o_2534123.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9a/edward-gibbon-710_active_active-valour-may-often-be-the-present-o_2534123.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Active valour may often be the present of nature; but such patient diligence can be the fruit only of habit…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The revolution of ages may bring round the same calamities; but ages may revolve without producing a Tacitus to describe them.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-revolution-of-ages-may-bring-round-the-same-calamities-but-ages/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e49/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-revolution-of-ages-may-bring-round-t_1384293.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e49/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-revolution-of-ages-may-bring-round-t_1384293.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e49/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-revolution-of-ages-may-bring-round-t_1384293.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The revolution of ages may bring round the same calamities; but ages may revolve without producing a Tacitus…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "[Whole] generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/whole-generations-may-be-swept-away-by-the-madness-of-kings-in-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82a/edward-gibbon-710_generations_whole-generations-may-be-swept-away-by-t_3059990.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82a/edward-gibbon-710_generations_whole-generations-may-be-swept-away-by-t_3059990.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82a/edward-gibbon-710_generations_whole-generations-may-be-swept-away-by-t_3059990.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“[Whole] generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour.” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Such events may be disbelieved or disregarded; but the charity of a bishop, Acacius of Amida, whose name might have dignified the saintly calendar, shall not be lost in oblivion.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/such-events-may-be-disbelieved-or-disregarded-but-the-charity-of-a/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/edward-gibbon-710_bishops_such-events-may-be-disbelieved-or-disreg_3023167.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/edward-gibbon-710_bishops_such-events-may-be-disbelieved-or-disreg_3023167.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05c/edward-gibbon-710_bishops_such-events-may-be-disbelieved-or-disreg_3023167.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Such events may be disbelieved or disregarded; but the charity of a bishop, Acacius of Amida, whose name…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 6,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The mathematics are distinguished by a particular privilege, that is, in the course of ages, they may always advance and can never recede.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-particular-privilege-that-is/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-p_238553.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-p_238553.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df9/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-p_238553.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The mathematics are distinguished by a particular privilege, that is, in the course of ages, they may always…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 7,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "A philosopher may deplore the eternal discords of the human race, but he will confess, that the desire of spoil is a more rational provocation than the vanity of conquest.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-philosopher-may-deplore-the-eternal-discords-of-the-human-race-but/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/edward-gibbon-710_conquest_a-philosopher-may-deplore-the-eternal-di_186312.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/edward-gibbon-710_conquest_a-philosopher-may-deplore-the-eternal-di_186312.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/edward-gibbon-710_conquest_a-philosopher-may-deplore-the-eternal-di_186312.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“A philosopher may deplore the eternal discords of the human race, but he will confess, that the desire of…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 8,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may entertain an active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of its own power: but the possession of a throne could never yet afford a lasting satisfaction to an ambitious mind.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-and-dangerous-may-entertain-an/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-an_258733.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-an_258733.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c09/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-an_258733.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may entertain an active spirit with the consciousness…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 9,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Genius may anticipate the season of maturity; but in the education of a people, as in that of an individual, memory must be exercised, before the powers of reason and fancy can be expanded: nor may the artist hope to equal or surpass, till he has learned to imitate, the works of his predecessors.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/genius-may-anticipate-the-season-of-maturity-but-in-the-education-of/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-gibbon-710_anticipate_genius-may-anticipate-the-season-of-matu_2971578.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-gibbon-710_anticipate_genius-may-anticipate-the-season-of-matu_2971578.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc4/edward-gibbon-710_anticipate_genius-may-anticipate-the-season-of-matu_2971578.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Genius may anticipate the season of maturity; but in the education of a people, as in that of an individual…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 10,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Where the subject lies so far beyond our reach, the difference between the highest and the lowest of human understandings may indeed be calculated as infinitely small; yet the degree of weakness may perhaps be measured by the degree of obstinacy and dogmatic confidence.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/where-the-subject-lies-so-far-beyond-our-reach-the-difference-between/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/edward-gibbon-710_confidence_where-the-subject-lies-so-far-beyond-our_378258.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/edward-gibbon-710_confidence_where-the-subject-lies-so-far-beyond-our_378258.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/edward-gibbon-710_confidence_where-the-subject-lies-so-far-beyond-our_378258.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Where the subject lies so far beyond our reach, the difference between the highest and the lowest of human…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 11,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume the appearance and produce the effects of a treasonable correspondence with the public enemy. If Alaric himself had been introduced into the council of Ravenna, he would probably have advised the same measures which were actually pursued by the ministers of Honorius.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-incapacity-of-a-weak-and-distracted-government-may-often-assume/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/edward-gibbon-710_appearance_the-incapacity-of-a-weak-and-distracted_3037340.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/edward-gibbon-710_appearance_the-incapacity-of-a-weak-and-distracted_3037340.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f04/edward-gibbon-710_appearance_the-incapacity-of-a-weak-and-distracted_3037340.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The incapacity of a weak and distracted government may often assume the appearance and produce the effects…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 12,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "To the love of pleasure we may therefore ascribe most of the agreeable, to the love of action we may attribute most of the useful and respectable, qualifications. The character in which both the one and the other should be united and harmonised would seem to constitute the most perfect idea of human nature.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/to-the-love-of-pleasure-we-may-therefore-ascribe-most-of-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae8/edward-gibbon-710_action_to-the-love-of-pleasure-we-may-therefore_2774288.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae8/edward-gibbon-710_action_to-the-love-of-pleasure-we-may-therefore_2774288.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae8/edward-gibbon-710_action_to-the-love-of-pleasure-we-may-therefore_2774288.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“To the love of pleasure we may therefore ascribe most of the agreeable, to the love of action we may…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 13,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The single combats of the heroes of history or fable amuse our fancy and engage our affections: the skillful evolutions of war may inform the mind, and improve a necessary, though pernicious, science. But in the uniform and odious pictures of a general assault, all is blood, and horror, and confusion . . .",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-single-combats-of-the-heroes-of-history-or-fable-amuse-our-fancy/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/edward-gibbon-710_affection_the-single-combats-of-the-heroes-of-hist_717866.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/edward-gibbon-710_affection_the-single-combats-of-the-heroes-of-hist_717866.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/edward-gibbon-710_affection_the-single-combats-of-the-heroes-of-hist_717866.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The single combats of the heroes of history or fable amuse our fancy and engage our affections: the skillful…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 14,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "An absolute monarch, who is rich without patrimony, may be charitable without merit; and Constantine too easily believed that he should purchase the favour of Heaven if he maintained the idle at the expense of the industrious, and distributed among the saints the wealth of the republic.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/an-absolute-monarch-who-is-rich-without-patrimony-may-be-charitable/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/edward-gibbon-710_absolutes_an-absolute-monarch-who-is-rich-without_165741.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/edward-gibbon-710_absolutes_an-absolute-monarch-who-is-rich-without_165741.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/edward-gibbon-710_absolutes_an-absolute-monarch-who-is-rich-without_165741.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“An absolute monarch, who is rich without patrimony, may be charitable without merit; and Constantine too…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 15,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Yet the experience of four thousand years should enlarge our hopes, and diminish our apprehensions: we cannot determine to what height the human species may aspire in their advances towards perfection; but it may safely be presumed, that no people, unless the face of nature is changed, will relapse into their original barbarism.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/yet-the-experience-of-four-thousand-years-should-enlarge-our-hopes/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_yet-the-experience-of-four-thousand-year_2546793.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_yet-the-experience-of-four-thousand-year_2546793.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ad/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_yet-the-experience-of-four-thousand-year_2546793.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Yet the experience of four thousand years should enlarge our hopes, and diminish our apprehensions: we…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 16,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the knowledge of the permanent benefits which may be obtained by a moderate use of conquest, and a just apprehension lest the desolation which we inflict on the enemy's country may be retaliated on our own. But these considerations of hope and fear are almost unknown in the pastoral state of nations.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-laws-of-war-that-restrain-the-exercise-of-national-rapine-and/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_the-laws-of-war-that-restrain-the-exerci_881697.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_the-laws-of-war-that-restrain-the-exerci_881697.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/edward-gibbon-710_apprehension_the-laws-of-war-that-restrain-the-exerci_881697.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of national rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 17,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The German huts, open on every side to the eye of indiscretion or jealousy, were a better safeguard of conjugal fidelity than the walls, the bolts, and the eunuchs of a persian harem. To this reason, another may be added of a more honourable nature. The Germans treated their women with esteem and confidence, consulted them on every occasion of importance, and fondly believed that in their breasts resided a sanctity and wisdom more than human.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-german-huts-open-on-every-side-to-the-eye-of-indiscretion-or/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/edward-gibbon-710_bolts_the-german-huts-open-on-every-side-to-th_1118720.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/edward-gibbon-710_bolts_the-german-huts-open-on-every-side-to-th_1118720.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/946/edward-gibbon-710_bolts_the-german-huts-open-on-every-side-to-th_1118720.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The German huts, open on every side to the eye of indiscretion or jealousy, were a better safeguard of…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 18,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The archiepiscopal throne of Macedonius, which had been polluted with so much Christian blood, was successively filled by Eudoxus and Damophilus. Their diocese enjoyed a free importation of vice and error from every province of the empire; the eager pursuit of religious controversy afforded a new occupation to the busy idleness of the metropolis: and we may credit the assertion of an intelligent observer, who describes, with some pleasantry, the effects of their loquacious zeal.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-macedonius-which-had-been-polluted-with/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/edward-gibbon-710_assertion_the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-macedonius_881831.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/edward-gibbon-710_assertion_the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-macedonius_881831.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddb/edward-gibbon-710_assertion_the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-macedonius_881831.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The archiepiscopal throne of Macedonius, which had been polluted with so much Christian blood, was…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 19,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character of Theodosius might furnish the subject of a sincere and ample panegyric. The wisdom of his laws and the success of his arms rendered his administration respectable in the eyes both of his subjects and of his enemies. He loved and practised the virtues of domestic life, which seldom hold their residence in the palaces of kings.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-danger-may-praise-without/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e87/edward-gibbon-710_administration_the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-dan_166620.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e87/edward-gibbon-710_administration_the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-dan_166620.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e87/edward-gibbon-710_administration_the-orator-who-may-be-silent-without-dan_166620.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 20,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The love of action is a principle of a much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often leads to anger, to ambition, and to revenge; but when it is guided by the sense of propriety and benevolence, it becomes the parent of every virtue, and, if those virtues are accompanied with equal abilities, a family, a state, or an empire may be indebted for their safety and prosperity to the undaunted courage of a single man.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-love-of-action-is-a-principle-of-a-much-stronger-and-more/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/edward-gibbon-710_ability_the-love-of-action-is-a-principle-of-a-m_2777588.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/edward-gibbon-710_ability_the-love-of-action-is-a-principle-of-a-m_2777588.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a0/edward-gibbon-710_ability_the-love-of-action-is-a-principle-of-a-m_2777588.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The love of action is a principle of a much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often leads to anger, to…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 21,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In their censures of luxury the fathers are extremely minute and circumstantial; and among the various articles which excite their pious indignation, we may enumerate false hair, garments of any colour except white, instruments of music, vases of gold or silver, downy pillows, white bread, foreign wines, public salutations, the use of warm baths, and the practice of shaving the beard, which, according to Tertullian, is a lie against our own faces, and am impious attempt to improve the works of the Creator.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-their-censures-of-luxury-the-fathers-are-extremely-minute-and/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7df/edward-gibbon-710_articles_in-their-censures-of-luxury-the-fathers_2185371.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7df/edward-gibbon-710_articles_in-their-censures-of-luxury-the-fathers_2185371.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7df/edward-gibbon-710_articles_in-their-censures-of-luxury-the-fathers_2185371.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In their censures of luxury the fathers are extremely minute and circumstantial; and among the various…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 22,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial government, as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those princes who understood their own interest and that of the people, it may be defined an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth. The masters of the Roman world surrounded their throne with darkness, concealed their irresistible strength, and humbly professed themselves the accountable ministers of the senate, whose supreme decrees they dictated and obeyed.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/to-resume-in-a-few-words-the-system-of-the-imperial-government-as-it/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/edward-gibbon-710_absolute-monarchy_to-resume-in-a-few-words-the-system-of-t_2287859.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/edward-gibbon-710_absolute-monarchy_to-resume-in-a-few-words-the-system-of-t_2287859.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/edward-gibbon-710_absolute-monarchy_to-resume-in-a-few-words-the-system-of-t_2287859.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial government, as it was instituted by Augustus, and…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 23,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of pleasure and the love of action. If the former is refined by art and learning, improved by the charms of social intercourse, and corrected by a just regard to economy, to health, and to reputation, it is productive of the greatest part of the happiness of private life.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/there-are-two-very-natural-propensities-which-we-may-distinguish-in/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/edward-gibbon-710_action_there-are-two-very-natural-propensities_327329.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/edward-gibbon-710_action_there-are-two-very-natural-propensities_327329.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f57/edward-gibbon-710_action_there-are-two-very-natural-propensities_327329.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 24,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorize the violation of every positive law. How far that or any other consideration may operate to dissolve the natural obligations of humanity and justice, is a doctrine of which I still desire to remain ignorant.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-urgent-consideration-of-the-public-safety-may-undoubtedly/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/edward-gibbon-710_consideration_the-urgent-consideration-of-the-public-s_2908705.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/edward-gibbon-710_consideration_the-urgent-consideration-of-the-public-s_2908705.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a5/edward-gibbon-710_consideration_the-urgent-consideration-of-the-public-s_2908705.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorize the violation of every positive law…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 25,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "A state of skepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing vision.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-state-of-skepticism-and-suspense-may-amuse-a-few-inquisitive-minds/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/edward-gibbon-710_atheism_a-state-of-skepticism-and-suspense-may-a_638174.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/edward-gibbon-710_atheism_a-state-of-skepticism-and-suspense-may-a_638174.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0aa/edward-gibbon-710_atheism_a-state-of-skepticism-and-suspense-may-a_638174.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“A state of skepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 26,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclusion, that every age of the world has increased, and still increases, the real wealth, the happiness, the knowledge, and perhaps the virtue, of the human race.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/we-may-therefore-acquiesce-in-the-pleasing-conclusion-that-every-age/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/edward-gibbon-710_age_we-may-therefore-acquiesce-in-the-pleasi_1994097.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/edward-gibbon-710_age_we-may-therefore-acquiesce-in-the-pleasi_1994097.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77f/edward-gibbon-710_age_we-may-therefore-acquiesce-in-the-pleasi_1994097.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“We may therefore acquiesce in the pleasing conclusion, that every age of the world has increased, and still…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 27,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The savage nations of the globe are the common enemies of civilized society; and we may inquire, with anxious curiosity, whether Europe is still threatened with a repetition of those calamities, which formerly oppressed the arms and institutions of Rome.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-savage-nations-of-the-globe-are-the-common-enemies-of-civilized/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d5/edward-gibbon-710_anxious_the-savage-nations-of-the-globe-are-the_2822814.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d5/edward-gibbon-710_anxious_the-savage-nations-of-the-globe-are-the_2822814.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d5/edward-gibbon-710_anxious_the-savage-nations-of-the-globe-are-the_2822814.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The savage nations of the globe are the common enemies of civilized society; and we may inquire, with…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 28,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes be cured by salutary violence, neither steel nor fire can eradicate the erroneous opinions of the mind.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/instructed-by-history-and-reflection-julian-was-persuaded-that-if-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/edward-gibbon-710_body_instructed-by-history-and-reflection-jul_695761.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/edward-gibbon-710_body_instructed-by-history-and-reflection-jul_695761.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a8/edward-gibbon-710_body_instructed-by-history-and-reflection-jul_695761.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Instructed by history and reflection, Julian was persuaded that, if the diseases of the body may sometimes…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 29,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The Indian who fells the tree that he may gather the fruit, and the Arab who plunders the caravans of commerce are actuated by the same impulse of savage nature, and relinquish for momentary rapine the long and secure possession of the most important blessings.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-may-gather-the-fruit-and-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/edward-gibbon-710_blessing_the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-ma_1707736.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/edward-gibbon-710_blessing_the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-ma_1707736.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/edward-gibbon-710_blessing_the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-ma_1707736.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The Indian who fells the tree that he may gather the fruit, and the Arab who plunders the caravans of…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 30,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "But the human character, however it may be exalted or depressed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by degrees to its proper and natural level, and will resume those passions that seem the most adapted to its present condition.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-human-character-however-it-may-be-exalted-or-depressed-by-a/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/871/edward-gibbon-710_adapted_but-the-human-character-however-it-may-b_2379069.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/871/edward-gibbon-710_adapted_but-the-human-character-however-it-may-b_2379069.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/871/edward-gibbon-710_adapted_but-the-human-character-however-it-may-b_2379069.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“But the human character, however it may be exalted or depressed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 31,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The active cavalry of Scythia is always followed, in their most distant and rapid incursions, by an adequate number of spare horses, who may be occasionally used, either to redouble the speed, or to satisfy the hunger, of the barbarians. Many are the resources of courage and poverty.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-active-cavalry-of-scythia-is-always-followed-in-their-most/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f4/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-active-cavalry-of-scythia-is-always_859038.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f4/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-active-cavalry-of-scythia-is-always_859038.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f4/edward-gibbon-710_active_the-active-cavalry-of-scythia-is-always_859038.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The active cavalry of Scythia is always followed, in their most distant and rapid incursions, by an adequate…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 32,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "The ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps the only example of the total extirpation of any ancient and popular superstition; and may therefore deserve to be considered, as a singular event in the history of the human mind.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-ruin-of-paganism-in-the-age-of-theodosius-is-perhaps-the-only/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-ruin-of-paganism-in-the-age-of-theod_357188.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-ruin-of-paganism-in-the-age-of-theod_357188.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50e/edward-gibbon-710_age_the-ruin-of-paganism-in-the-age-of-theod_357188.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“The ruin of Paganism, in the age of Theodosius, is perhaps the only example of the total extirpation of any…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 33,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "In the various states of society, armies are recruited from very different motives. Barbarians are urged by the love of war; the citizens of a free republic may be prompted by a principle of duty; the subjects, or at least the nobles, of a monarchy, are animated by a sentiment of honor; but the timid and luxurious inhabitants of a declining empire must be allured into the service by the hopes of profit, or compelled by the dread of punishment.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Edward Gibbon"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-the-various-states-of-society-armies-are-recruited-from-very/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edward-gibbon-710_animated_in-the-various-states-of-society-armies_537211.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edward-gibbon-710_animated_in-the-various-states-of-society-armies_537211.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edward-gibbon-710_animated_in-the-various-states-of-society-armies_537211.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“In the various states of society, armies are recruited from very different motives. Barbarians are urged by…” — Edward Gibbon",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/",
            "name": "May Quotes by Edward Gibbon",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/638/edward-gibbon-710_books_let-us-read-with-method-and-propose-to-o_3027669.png"
            },
            "description": "33 May quotes by Edward Gibbon. Plus more from Edward Gibbon and more May sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "May",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Edward Gibbon",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/edward-gibbon/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```