Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon FRS was an English historian, writer and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788 and is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open criticism of organized religion...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth27 April 1737
men names race
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.
country philosophy men
The most sublime efforts of philosophy can extend no farther than feebly to point out the desire, the hope, or, at most, the probability, of a future state, there is nothing, except a divine revelation, that can ascertain the existence, and describe the condition of the invisible country which is destined to receive the souls of men after their separation from the body.
education teacher teaching
Every man who rises above the common level has received two educations: the first from his teachers; the second, more personal and important, from himself.
fashion character style
Style is the image of character.
art book writing
Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.
book reading hero
Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes.
life success winning
We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. There must be contest, and we must win.
gratitude believe simple
'I believe in one God and Mohammed the Apostle of God,' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol; the honours of the prophet have never transgressed the measure of human virtue, and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion.
book reading thinking
Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which our studies may point. The use of reading is to aid us in thinking.
dexterity authority interest
But the wisdom and authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest.
philosophy mean history
Philosophy, with the aid of experience, has at length banished the study of alchymy; and the present age, however desirous of riches, is content to seek them by the humbler means of commerce and industry.
wisdom growth doe
All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.
history disposition efficacy
But the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous.
sympathy suffering misery
Our sympathy is cold to the relation of distant misery.