Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism.
Edward GibbonThe land was then covered with morasses and forests, which spread to a boundless extent, whenever man has ceased to exercise his dominion over the earth.
Edward GibbonBut a law, however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the times . . .
Edward GibbonIn populous cities, which are the seat of commerce and manufactures, the middle ranks of inhabitants, who derive their subsistence from the dexterity or labour of their hands, are commonly the most prolific, the most useful, and, in that sense, the most respectable part of the community.
Edward Gibbon