Quotessence
Home / Authors / Edward Gibbon Books
Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon Books

Historian

Autobiography

A source page for quotes linked to Edward Gibbon.

0 quotes

Men and Letters

A source page for quotes linked to Edward Gibbon.

0 quotes

Related Quotes

“Most of the crimes which disturb the internal peace of society are produced by the restraints which the necessary, but unequal, laws of property have imposed on the appetites of mankind, by confining to a few the possession of those objects that are coveted by many. Of all our passions and appetites, the love of power is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission of the multitude. In the tumult of civil discord, the laws of society lose their force, and their place is seldom supplied by those of humanity. The ardor of contention, the pride of victory, the despair of success, the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers, all contribute to inflame the mind, and to silence the voice of pity. From such motives almost every page of history has been stained with civil blood....”

Property RightsCovetousnessPower Corrupts1776Wealth Disparity180
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I
Create image

“The obvious definition of a monarchy seems to be that of a state, in which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be distinguished, is entrusted with the execution of the laws, the management of the revenue, and the command of the army. But, unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians, the authority of so formidable a magistrate will soon degenerate into despotism. The influence of the clergy, in an age of superstition, might be usefully employed to assert the rights of mankind; but so intimate is the connection between the throne and the altar, that the banner of the church has very seldom been seen on the side of the people. A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies, form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against enterprises of an aspiring prince.”

ChurchLibertyMonarchyChurch And StateRight To Bear ArmsDefinition1776
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I
Create image

“The ecclesiastical governors of the Christians were taught to unite the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the dove; but as the former was refined, so the latter was insensibly corrupted, by the habits of government. In the church as well as in the world, the persons who were placed in any public station rendered themselves considerable by their eloquence and firmness, by their knowledge of mankind, and by their dexterity in business; and while they concealed from others, and perhaps from themselves, the secret motives of their conduct, they too frequently relapsed into all the turbulent passions of active life, which were tinctured with an additional degree of bitterness and obstinacy from the infusion of spiritual zeal.”

Power CorruptsEarly Christianity1776Church PoliticsImpietyDove And Serpent
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I
Create image

“The declining age of learning and of mankind is marked, however, by the rise and rapid progress of the new Platonists. The school of Alexandria silenced those of Athens; and the ancient sects enrolled themselves under the banners of the more fashionable teachers, who recommended their system by the novelty of their method and the austerity of their manners. Several of these masters—Ammonius, Plotinus, Amelius, and Porphyry—were men of profound thought and intense application; but, by mistaking the true object of philosophy, their labors contributed much less to improve than to corrupt human understanding. The knowledge that is suited to our situation and powers, the whole compass of moral, natural and mathematical science, was neglected by the new Platonists; whilst they exhausted their strength in the verbal disputes of metaphysics, attempted to explore the secrets of the invisible world, and studied to reconcile Aristotle with Plato, on subjects of which both of these philosophers were as ignorant as the rest of mankind. Consuming their reason in these deep but unsubstantial meditations, their minds were exposed to illusions of fancy. They flattered themselves that they possessed the secret of disengaging the soul from its corporeal prison, claimed a familiar intercourse withe dæmons and spirits; and, by a very singular revolution, converted the study of philosophy into that of magic. The ancient sages had derided the popular superstition; after disguising its extravagance by the this pretense of allegory, the disciples of Plotinus and Porphyry becomes its most zealous defenders. As they agreed with the Christians in a few mysterious points of faith, they attacked the remainder of their theological system with all the fury of civil war. The new Platonists would scarcely deserve a place in the history of science, but in that of the church the mention of them will very frequently occur.”

PhilosophyMagicMetaphysicsHistory Of Religion1776300Neo Platonism
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I
Create image

“Such was the unhappy condition of the Roman emperors, that, whatever might be their conduct, their fate was commonly the same. A life of pleasure or virtue, of severity or mildness, of indolence or glory, alike lead to an untimely grave; and almost every reign is closed by the same disgusting repetition of treason and murder.”

Roman Empire275Tyrannicide
Book:The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1: 180-395
Create image

“A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against the enterprise of an aspiring prince”

FormFreedomArmsBalanceCapableConstitutionPropertyEnterprisePossessedStubbornNobilityAssemblyTenacious
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Create image

“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.”

MindMaySpiritConsciousnessDangerousGreatnessExerciseFameSatisfactionPossessionActiveLastingAmbitiousThronesSteepAscent
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Create image

“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.”

MayDifferentWarStatesPrinciplesSubjectsMilitaryDutyCitizensHonorArmyProfitVariousPunishmentMotiveEmpiresSentimentsRepublicDreadCompelledMonarchyAnimatedBarbariansLuxurious
Book:EDWARD GIBBON Premium Collection: Historiographical Works, Memoirs & Letters: Including
Create image

“Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.”

WisdomGratitudeRevengeExpensiveThank YouProfitable
Book:THE HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (All 6 Volumes): From the Height of the Roman Empire, the Age of Trajan and the Antonines - to the Fall of Byzantium; Including a Review of the Crusades, and the State of Rome during the Middle Ages
Create image