In a distant age and climate, the tragic scene of the death of Hosein will awaken the sympathy of the coldest reader.
Edward GibbonThe philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history, will probably conclude that, if the eyes of the spectators have sometimes been deceived by fraud, the understanding of the readers has much more frequently been insulted by fiction.
Edward GibbonTruth, naked, unblushing truth, the first virtue of all serious history, must be the sole recommendation of this personal narrative.
Edward GibbonGreek is a musical and prolific language, that gives a soul to the objects of sense, and a body to the abstractions of philosophy.
Edward GibbonThe orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character of Theodosius might furnish the subject of a sincere and ample panegyric. The wisdom of his laws and the success of his arms rendered his administration respectable in the eyes both of his subjects and of his enemies. He loved and practised the virtues of domestic life, which seldom hold their residence in the palaces of kings.
Edward Gibbon