Europe is secure from any future irruptions of Barbarians; since, before they can conquer, they must cease to be barbarous.

The sentiment of fear is nearly allied to that of hatred.

The author himself is the best judge of his own performance; none has so deeply meditated on the subject; none is so sincerely interested in the event.

[The] vain and transitory scenes of human greatness are unworthy of a serious thought.

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

Instead of pressing, with the foremost of the crowd, into the palace of Constantinople, Libanius calmly expected his arrival at Antioch; withdrew from court on the first symptoms of coldness and indifference; required a formal invitation for each visit; and taught his sovereign an important lesson, that he might command the obedience of a subject, but that he must deserve the attachment of a friend.

[The] events by which the fate of nations is not materially changed, leave a faint impression on the page of history, and the patience of the reader would be exhausted by the repetition of the same hostilities [between Rome and Persia], undertaken without cause, prosecuted without glory, and terminated without effect.