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The reign of Antoninus is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history, which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

— Edward Gibbon

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Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Ch. III (1776), Vol. 1, Ch. 3 "Of the Constitution of the Roman Empire, in the Age of the Antonines"
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

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In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.

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Notes from Wikiquote

This has often been paraphrased: History is indeed little more than the register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

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History

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There exists in human nature a strong propensity to depreciate the advantages, and to magnify the evils, of the present times.

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In a distant age and climate the tragic scene of the death of Hussyn will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.

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

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

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Attribution

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.