[Instead] of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. Edward Gibbon More Quotes by Edward Gibbon More Quotes From Edward Gibbon In this primitive and abject state [of hunters and gatherers], which ill deserves the name of society, the human brute, without arts or laws, almost without sense or language, is poorly distinguished from the rest of the animal creation. Edward Gibbon lawanimalart [But] the man who dares not expose his life in the defence of his children and his property, has lost in society the first and most active energies of nature. Edward Gibbon menchildrenfirsts [The] vain and transitory scenes of human greatness are unworthy of a serious thought. Edward Gibbon greatnesssceneserious The criminal penalties [for suicide] are the production of a later and darker age. Edward Gibbon criminalssuicideage To maintain the harmony of authority and obedience, to chastise the proud, to protect the weak, to reward the deserving, to banish vice and idleness from his dominions, to secure the traveller and merchant, to restrain the depredations of the soldier, to cherish the labors of the husbandman, to encourage industry and learning, and, by an equal and moderate assessment, to increase the revenue, without increasing the taxes, are indeed the duties of a prince . . . Edward Gibbon assessmentproudsoldier The progress of manufactures and commerce insensibly collects a large multitude within the walls of a city: but these citizens are no longer soldiers; and the arts which adorn and improve the state of civil society, corrupt the habits of the military life. Edward Gibbon wallmilitaryart Ignorant of the arts of luxury, the primitive Romans had improved the science of government and war. Edward Gibbon governmentwarart Both Moscow and [Kiev], the modern and the ancient capitals, were reduced to ashes [by the Tartars]; a temporary ruin, less fatal than the deep, and perhaps indelible, mark, which a servitude of two hundred years has imprinted on the character of the Russians. Edward Gibbon charactertwoyears The patient and active virtues of a soldier are insensibly nursed in the habits and discipline of a pastoral life. Edward Gibbon disciplinepatientsoldier Persuasion is the resource of the feeble; and the feeble can seldom persuade . . . Edward Gibbon persuasionresources A society in which marriage is encouraged and industry prevails soon repairs the accidental losses of pestilence and war. Edward Gibbon pestilencelosswar In the most rigorous [Roman] laws, a wife was condemned to support a gamester, a drunkard, or a libertine, unless he were guilty of homicide, poison, or sacrilege, in which cases the marriage, as it should seem, might have been dissolved by the hand of the executioner. Edward Gibbon wifelawhands [A] military force was collected in Europe, formidable by their arms and numbers, if the generals had understood the science of command, and the soldiers the duty of obedience. Edward Gibbon militarynumberseurope History has scarcely deigned to notice [Libius Severus's] birth, his elevation, his character, or his death. Edward Gibbon elevationbirthcharacter It has been sagaciously conjectured, that the artful legislator indulged the stubborn prejudices of his countrymen. Edward Gibbon legislatorsstubbornprejudice The monastic studies have tended, for the most part, to darken, rather than to dispel, the cloud of superstition. Edward Gibbon superstitionsstudyclouds A sentence of death and infamy was often founded on the slight and suspicious evidence of a child or a servant: the guilt [of the defendant] was presumed by the judges [due to the nature of the charge], and paederasty became the crime of those to whom no crime could be imputed. Edward Gibbon guiltjudgingchildren The love of freedom, so often invigorated and disgraced by private ambition, was reduced, among the licentious Franks, to the contempt of order, and the desire of impunity. Edward Gibbon ambitiondesireorder A Locrian, who proposed any new law, stood forth in the assembly of the people with a cord round his neck, and if the law was rejected, the innovator was instantly strangled. Edward Gibbon neckslawpeople A jurisdiction thus vague and arbitrary was exposed to the most dangerous abuse: the substance, as well as the form, of justice were often sacrificed to the prejudices of virtue, the bias of laudable affection, and the grosser seductions of interest or resentment. Edward Gibbon arbitraryabusejustice
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