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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I

Book by Edward Gibbon · 1 quotes · 1776, Power Corrupts, 180

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The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I Quotes

“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
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