Edward Gibbon Quotes

It has always been my practice to cast a long paragraph in a single mould, to try it by my ear, to deposit it in my memory, but to suspend the action of the pen till I had given the last polish to my work.

I was never less alone than when by myself.

But the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous.

Beauty is an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.

All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.

The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise.

The courage of a soldier is found to be the cheapest and most common quality of human nature.

My early and invincible love of reading I would not exchange for all the riches of India.

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.

Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition.

History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

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.

Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes.

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.

Fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity.

A heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.

History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.

Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.

Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty.

Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.

Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.

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.

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.