“The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.”
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
“The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn in others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can readily discover some nice difference in age, character, or station, to justify the partial distinction.”
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
“… as long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the most exalted characters.”
Edward Gibbon
“The five marks of the Roman decaying culture:
Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth;
Obsession with sex and perversions of sex;
Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original;
Widening disparity between very rich and very poor;
Increased demand to live off the state.”
Edward Gibbon
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I’ve been reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for about a year now because I think every educated person should read it. It’s extraordinarily well written and researched, but it’s so long (the unabridged six-volume version) that it’d take years of study to truly understand it. Yesterday I read it for almost two hours on Kindle. I was at the 63% point when I started and the 63% point when I finished–and I’m a fast reader. Worth the time, though–the parallels with modern-day USA are remarkable.
We resemble those remarks.