A small number of temples was protected by the fears, the venality, the taste, or the prudence of the civil and ecclesiastical governors. The temple of the Celestial Venus at Carthage, whose sacred precincts formed a circumference of two miles, was judiciously converted into a Christian church; and a similar consecration has preserved inviolate the majestic dome of the Pantheon at Rome.

The slightest force, when it is applied to assist and guide the natural descent of its object, operates with irresistible weight; and Jovian had the good fortune to embrace the religious opinions which were supported by the spirit of the times and the zeal and numbers of the most powerful sect. Under his reign, Christianity obtained an easy and lasting victory; and, as soon as the smile of royal patronage was withdrawn, the genius of Paganism, which had been fondly raised and cherished by the arts of Julian, sunk irrecoverably in the dust.

[Whole] generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour.

The frequent repetition of miracles serves to provoke, where it does not subdue, the reason of mankind.

Flattery is a foolish suicide; she destroys herself with her own hands.

[Personal] industry must be faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personal interest.

Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism.