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The same timid policy, of dividing whatever is united, of reducing whatever is eminent, of dreading every active power, and of expecting that the most feeble will be the most obedient, seems to pervade the institutions of several princes, and particularly those of Constantine.

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

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Source: Chapter 17.
Work: The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, 1776
Source quality: Source identified Names the work or year, but without an exact location.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edward Gibbon (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.