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

Book by Edward Gibbon · 2 quotes · 1776, Power Corrupts, 180

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