All is forgiven to kings and popes. History grants them immunity, even a full pardon, even when they admit their crimes and glory in them.
Robert PayneIt is almost a general rule that nations do not decline gradually. Instead they fall abruptly from their greatest heights.
Robert PayneHistorically the first philosopher to enquire deeply into the nature of corruption in society was Ibn Khaldun (1322-1406), whose wandering life was largely spent in the northern littoral of Africa at a time when kingdoms and sultanates were crumbling.
Robert Payne