92 quotes
The paths of error are various and infinite.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
All gates are shut against the unfortunate.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
In every deed of mischief, he [Andronicus Comnenus] had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.
Civil governments, in their first institutions, are voluntary associations for mutual defence.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
The noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.
The virtue of the primitive Christians, like that of the first Romans, was very frequently guarded by poverty and ignorance.
Like Augustus, Diocletian may be considered as the founder of a new empire.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
Vitellius consumed in mere eating, at least six millions of our money in about seven months. It is not easy to express his vices with dignity, or even decency.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
Since the foundation of Rome no general had more nobly deserved a triumph than Aurelian.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
His rash ambition had climbed a height where it was difficult to stand with firmness, and impossible to fall without instant destruction.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
The divided administration, which had been formed by Constantine, relaxed the vigour of the state, while it secured the tranquility of the monarch.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
The ideas of inheritance and succession are so very familiar that the generality of mankind consider them as founded not only in reason but in nature itself.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
It was dangerous to trust the sincerity of Augustus; to seem to distrust it was still more dangerous.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
Wit and valour are qualities that are more easily ascertained than virtue, or the love of wisdom.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
My early and invincible love of reading, * * * I would not exchange for the treasures of India.
It was in the school of Alexandria that the Christian theology appears to have assumed a regular and scientifical form.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
It was easier to vanquish the Goths than to eradicate the public vices.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised portion of mankind.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
When Aurelian assumed his seat, his manly grace and majestic figure taught the barbarians to revere the person as well as the purple of the conqueror.
The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)
It is the misfortune of controversy, that an error may be committed in three or four words, that cannot be rectified in less than thirty or forty lines.
Vindication (1779)