Edward Gibbon
British · 1737–1794
English historian and member of Parliament, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, one of the greatest works of historical literature in the English language.
Wikipedia ↗“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.”
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“History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.”
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“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.”
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“The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of the destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and, as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight.”
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“The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”
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“I have described the triumph of barbarism and religion.”
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