Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The historian must have some conception of how men who are not historians behave.
Language is the leading principle which unites or separates the tribes of mankind.
Persuasion is the resource of the feeble; and the feeble can seldom persuade . . .
But a wild democracy . . . too often disdains the essential principles of justice.
The criminal penalties [for suicide] are the production of a later and darker age.
To a lover of books the shops and sales in London present irresistible temptations.
History should be to the political economist a wellspring of experience and wisdom.
[The] noblest of [Arabs] united the love of arms with the profession of merchandise.
I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.
It was no longer esteemed infamous for a Roman to survive his honor and independence.
[The] vain and transitory scenes of human greatness are unworthy of a serious thought.
It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.
To a philosophic eye, the vices of the clergy are far less dangerous than their virtues.
Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes.
Greek is doubtless the most perfect [language] that has been contrived by the art of man.
The best and most important part of every man's education is that which he gives himself.
We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves. There must be contest, and we must win.
My early and invincible love of reading I would not exchange for all the riches of India.
In discussing Barbarism and Christianity I have actually been discussing the Fall of Rome.
[It] is the interest as well as duty of a sovereign to maintain the authority of the laws.
[All] the manly virtues were oppressed by the servile and pusillanimous reign of the monks.
[Whole] generations may be swept away by the madness of kings in the space of a single hour.
History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
The courage of a soldier is found to be the cheapest and most common quality of human nature.
In every deed of mischief he had a heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.
History, in fact, is no more than a list of the crimes of humanity, human follies and accidents
Beauty is an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.
[Peace] cannot be honorable or secure, if the sovereign betrays a pusillanimous aversion to war.
Our toil is lessened, and our wealth is increased, by our dominion over the useful animals . . .
Of human life, the most glorious or humble prospects are alike and soon bounded by the sepulchre.
History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
I am indeed rich, since my income is superior to my expenses, and my expense is equal to my wishes.
Imam Hussain's sacrifice is for all groups and communities, an example of the path of rightousness.
Yet the civilians have always respected the natural right of a citizen to dispose of his life . . .
The difference of language, dress, and manners . . . severs and alienates the nations of the globe.
Ignorant of the arts of luxury, the primitive Romans had improved the science of government and war.
But a law, however venerable be the sanction, cannot suddenly transform the temper of the times . . .
[Personal] industry must be faint and languid, which is not excited by the sense of personal interest.
Does there exist a single instance of a saint asserting that he himself possessed the gift of miracles?
The frequent repetition of miracles serves to provoke, where it does not subdue, the reason of mankind.
Extreme distress, which unites the virtue of a free people, imbitters the factions of a declining monarchy.
[We should] suspend our belief of every tale that deviates from the laws of nature and the character of man.
History has scarcely deigned to notice [Libius Severus's] birth, his elevation, his character, or his death.
Many a sober Christian would rather admit that a wafer is God than that God is a cruel and capricious tyrant.
[Every] hour of delay abates the fame and force of the invader, and multiplies the resources of defensive war.
My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the decent obscurity of a learned language.
Man has much more to fear from the passions of his fellow-creatures, than from the convulsions of the elements.
The pains and pleasures of the body, howsoever important to ourselves, are an indelicate subject of conversation
[Every age], however destitute of science or virtue, sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown.
The monastic studies have tended, for the most part, to darken, rather than to dispel, the cloud of superstition.