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Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon Quotes

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Famous Edward Gibbon Quotes

“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
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“As long as the same passions and interests subsist among mankind, the questions of war and peace, of justice and policy, which were debated in the councils of antiquity, will frequently present themselves as the subject of modern deliberation.”

LongWarPassionInterestJusticeHistoryModernSubjectsMankindPolicyCouncilAntiquityRoman EmpireDeliberation
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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“Yet the people, and even the clergy, incapable of forming any rational judgment of the business of peace and war, presumed to arraign the policy of Stilicho, who so often vanquished, so often surrounded, and so often dismissed the implacable enemy of the republic. The first moment of the public safety is devoted to gratitude and joy; but the second is diligently occupied by envy and calumny.”

PeopleFirstsWarMomentsJoyEnemyHistoryPolicyGratitudeJudgmentSafetyEnvyRationalRepublicDevotedIncapableRoman EmpireClergyCalumnyPublic Safety
Book:The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edited and Abridged): Abridged Edition
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“In less than seven years the vestiges of the Gothic invasion were almost obliterated, and the city appeared to resume its former splendour and tranquillity. The venerable matron replaced her crown of laurel, which had been ruffled by the storms of war, and was still amused in the last moment of her decay with the prophecies of revenge, of victory, and of eternal dominion.”

YearsStillsWarMomentsLastsCitiesHistoryVictoryEternalSevenStormRevengeFormerDecayCrownsReplacedProphecySeven YearsInvasionGothicDominionRoman EmpireAmusedResumesLaurelsTranquillitySplendour
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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“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.”

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Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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“Inclined to peace by his temper and situation, it was easy for [Augustus] to discover that Rome, in her present exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear from the chance of arms; and that, in the prosecution of remote wars, the undertaking became every day more difficult, the event more doubtful, and the possession more precarious and less beneficial.”

WarEasyDifficultChanceSituationEventsArmsPossessionRomeTemperBeneficialExaltedUndertakingsDoubtfulPrecariousProsecutionAugustus
Book:The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812
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“In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country to love, a property to defend, and some share in enacting those laws which it was their interest, as well as duty, to maintain. But in proportion as the public freedom was lost in extent of conquest, war was gradually improved into an art, and degraded into a trade.”

WellsArtWarCountryUseAgeLawLostInterestShareDutyArmsCitizensTradePropertyProportionConquestReservedCommonwealth
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
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“But [the Arabs'] friendship was venal, their faith inconstant, their enmity capricious: it was an easier task to excite than to disarm these roving barbarians; and, in the familiar intercourse of war, they learned to see, and to despise, the splendid weakness both of Rome and of Persia.”

WarEasierWeaknessTasksFamiliarRomeDespiseSplendidIntercourseBarbariansEnmityCapriciousPersiaRoving
Book:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: The Modern Library Collection (Complete and Unabridged)
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“The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without fear, slow or rapid according to the exigencies of the moment; that in the deepest distress he was animated by real or apparent hope, but that he was modest and humble in the most prosperous fortune.”

WarRealMomentsFortuneHumbleHistorianDaringDistressModestRapidsSpectatorsPerilProsperousExploitsAnimatedPrudentRashness
Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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“A society in which marriage is encouraged and industry prevails soon repairs the accidental losses of pestilence and war.”

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Book:The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812
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“[Peace] cannot be honorable or secure, if the sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war.”

IfsWarSecureBetrayHonorableSovereignAversion
Book:The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812
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“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 . . .”

MindMayWarBloodEvolutionHeroHorrorAffectionConfusionFancyCombatUniformsAssaultFablesSkillfulPernicious
Book:The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812
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“War, in its fairest form, implies a perpetual violation of humanity and justice.”

WarFormHumanityJusticePerpetualViolation
Book:The Modern Library Essential World History 4-Book Bundle: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Abridged); Montcalm and Wolfe; History of the Conquest of Mexico; The Naval War of 1812
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