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Quotes from The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire — Edward Gibbon

1737–1794 England

← All quotes by Edward Gibbon

61 quotes

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)

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 has been calculated by the ablest politicians that no State, without being soon exhausted, can maintain above the hundredth part of its members in arms and idleness.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

There is no surer proof of the military skill of the Romans, than their first surmounting the idle terror, and afterwards disdaining the dangerous use, of elephants in war.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

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

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

The power of opinion is irresistible.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

[W]henever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

So urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of some other mode of superstition.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

The traveller who has contemplated the ruins of ancient Rome may conceive some imperfect idea of the sentiments which they must have inspired when they reared their heads in the splendour of unsullied beauty.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn in others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can readily discover some nice difference of age, character, or station, to justify the partial distinction.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus.

The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Edward Gibbon (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.