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
character law justice
A nation ignorant of the equal benefits of liberty and law, must be awed by the flashes of arbitrary power: the cruelty of a despot will assume the character of justice; his profusion, of liberality; his obstinacy, of firmness.
money wish income
I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.
friendship happiness sex
I understand by this passion the union of desire, friendship, and tenderness, which is inflamed by a single female, which prefers her to the rest of her sex, and which seeks her possession as the supreme or the sole happiness of our being.
thank-you wisdom gratitude
Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.
arts english-historian habits learning original resolved
Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking,unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.
deed mischief
In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.
loneliness being-alone feeling-alone
I was never less alone than when by myself.
english-historian history register
History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.