Edward Gibbon Quotes

And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

Imam Hussain's sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of rightousness.

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.

The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.

And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. The superstition of the people was not embittered theological rancor.

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.

In the end, they wanted security more than they wanted freedom.

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.

Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.

We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. There must be contest, and we must win.

Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.

Our ignorance is God; what we know is science.

The courage of a soldier is found to be the cheapest and most common quality of human nature.

[In] the national and religious conflict of the [Byzantine and Saracen] empires, peace was without confidence, and war without mercy.

[Whole] generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour.

Religion is a mere question of geography.

Fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity.

The Roman government appeared every day less formidable to its enemies, more odious and oppressive to its subjects.

I was never less alone than when by myself.

bizarreness masqueraded as creativity.

Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule.

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.

The laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular.

History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes.

Since the primitive times, the wealth of the popes was exposed to envy, their powers to opposition, and their persons to violence.

The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise.

Style is the image of character.

Every man who rises above the common level has received two educations: the first from his teachers; the second, more personal and important, from himself.

Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.

The communication of ideas requires a similitude of thought and language . . .

The law of nature instructs most animals to cherish and educate their infant progeny. The law of reason inculcates to the human species the returns of filial piety.

A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of their master who, in the abuse of absolute power, does not proceed to the last extremes of injustice and oppression.

The sentiment of fear is nearly allied to that of hatred.

[The] discretion of the judge is the first engine of tyranny . . .

Under a democratical government the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude.

Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism.

I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.

But the wisdom and authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest.

It has been sagaciously conjectured, that the artful legislator indulged the stubborn prejudices of his countrymen.

Where error is irreparable, repentance is useless.

It was among the ruins of the capitol that I first conceived the idea of a work which has amused and exercised nearly twenty years of my life.

To an active mind, indolence is more painful than labor.

To a lover of books the shops and sales in London present irresistible temptations.

The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.

The pathetic almost always consists in the detail of little events.

It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.

The separation of the Arabs from the rest of mankind has accustomed them to confound the ideas of stranger and enemy.

Suspicious princes often promote the last of mankind, from a vain persuasion that those who have no dependence except on their favor will have no attachment except to the person of their benefactor.