Frasi di Edward Gibbon (58 frasi, pagina 2)

da Storia della decadenza e caduta dell'impero romano; citato in Carl Sagan, Contact, p. 119
Storia della decadenza e caduta dell'Impero Romano, Misc.

Sulla vita , Errore , Storia

“Quasi tutti i crimini che turbano la pace interna della società sono il prodotto delle restrizioni che delle leggi necessarie ma discriminanti della proprietà hanno imposto agli appetiti del genere umano, limitando soltanto ad alcuni il possesso di quegli oggetti che sono desiderati ardentemente da molti.”

Edward Gibbon Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Sull'età , Sulle leggi , Sulla pace , Sul sesso

“I prìncipi sospettosi promuovono spesso l'ultimo degli uomini nella vana persuasione che chi dipende soltanto dal favore proverà attaccamento soltanto per il suo benefattore.”

Edward Gibbon Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Sugli uomini

“A una cena memorabile trenta schiavi servirono a tavola: dieci giovani si appagarono di Teodora. La sua carità era universale.”

Edward Gibbon Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Declino e caduta dell'Impero romano, p. 457
Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Sui giovani

“[Teodora] si augurava un quarto altare sul quale poter libare al dio dell'Amore.”

Edward Gibbon Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Declino e caduta dell'Impero romano, p. 457
Declino e caduta dell'Impero Romano
Origine: Alludendo a quel che dice Procopio di Cesarea riguardo all'uso "contro natura" che Teodora faceva del suo corpo.

Su Dio

“I diversi culti religiosi che si osservavano nel Mondo romano, erano tutti considerati dal popolo come egualmente veri; dal filosofo come egualmente falsi, e dai magistrati come egualmente utili.”

Edward Gibbon

1820, p. 42
Storia della decadenza e caduta dell'Impero Romano

Sul mondo

“Questa muraglia di Antonino, poco al di là delle moderne città di Edimburgo e Glascovia, fu stabilita come il confine della provincia romana. I nativi Caledonj, nell’estremità settentrionale dell’isola, conservarono la loro selvaggia indipendenza, della quale andarono debitori alla loro povertà non meno che al loro valore. Furono spesso e respinte e punite le loro incursioni, ma il lor paese non fu mai soggiogato[11]”

Edward Gibbon

Storia del Declino e della Caduta dell'Impero Romano

Edward Gibbon: Frasi in inglese

“On the approach of spring I withdraw without reluctance from the noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. i. p. 116.
Memoirs (1796)

“It was here [at the age of seventeen] that I suspended my religious inquiries.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Memoirs (1796)

“Antoninus diffused order and tranquility over the greatest part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. 1, Ch. 3 "Of the Constitution of the Roman Empire, in the Age of the Antonines" http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume1/chap3.htm
This has often been paraphrased: History is indeed little more than the register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“Crowds without company, and dissipation without pleasure.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Referring to London.
Memoirs (1796)

“I was never less alone than when by myself.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. i. p. 117. Compare: "Never less alone than when alone", Samuel Rogers, Human Life; "In solitude, where we are least alone", Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto III, Stanza 90.
Memoirs (1796)

“A long period of distress and anarchy, in which empire, and arts, and riches, had migrated from the banks of the Tiber, was incapable of restoring or adorning the city; and, as all that is human must retrograde if it do not advance, every successive age must have hastened the ruin of the works of antiquity.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. 1, Chap. 71.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. 1, Chap. 48. Compare: "He had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute any mischief", Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (on Hampden), History of the Rebellion, Vol. iii, Book vii, Section 84.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“I saw and loved.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. i. p. 106. Compare: "None ever loved but at first sight they loved", George Chapman, The Blind Beggar of Alexandria.
Memoirs (1796)

“Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history has been decorated with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon meteors, preternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies fictitious or exaggerated.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. 1, Chap. 10.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“It is difficult to paint the light, the various, the inconstant character of Gallienus, which he displayed without constraint, as soon as he became sole possessor of the empire. There were, however, a few short moments in the life of Gallienus, when, exasperated by some recent injury, he suddenly appeared the intrepid soldier and the cruel tyrant; till, satiated with blood, or fatigued by resistance, he insensibly sunk into the natural mildness and indolence of his character.In every art that he attempted, his lively genius enabled him to succeed; and as his genius was destitute of judgment, he attempted every art, except the important ones of war and government. He was a master of several curious, but useless sciences, a ready orator, an elegant poet, a skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and most contemptible prince... There were, however, a few short moments in the life of Gallienus, when, exasperated by some recent injury, he suddenly appeared the intrepid soldier and the cruel tyrant; till, satiated with blood, or fatigued by resistance, he insensibly sunk into the natural mildness and indolence of his character.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. 1, Chap. 10.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“When Gallienus received the intelligence that his capital was delivered from the barbarians, he was much less delighted than alarmed with the courage of the senate, since it might one day prompt them to rescue the public from domestic tyranny as well as from foreign invasion. His timid ingratitude was published to his subjects, in an edict which prohibited the senators from exercising any military employment, and even from approaching the camps of the legions. But his fears were groundless. The rich and luxurious nobles, sinking into their natural character, accepted, as a favor, this disgraceful exemption from military service; and as long as they were indulged in the enjoyment of their baths, their theatres, and their villas, they cheerfully resigned the more dangerous cares of empire to the rough hands of peasants and soldiers.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. 1, Chap. 10.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“All gates are shut against the unfortunate.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

Vol. III
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)

“Benevolence is the foundation of Justice, since we are forbidden to injure those we are bound to assist. A prophet may reveal the secrets of Heaven and futurity, but in his moral precepts he can only repeat the lessons of our own hearts.”

Help us translate this quote

Edward Gibbon

EGPaIV" Edward Gibbon, [1788], Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/gibbon/05/daf05010.htm, Vol. 5, Chapter L: Description Of Arabia And Its Inhabitants. Part IV.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)