My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the obscurity of a learned language. – Edward Gibbon
Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule. – Edward Gibbon
Every man who rises above the common level has received two educations: the first from his teachers the second, more personal and important, from himself. – Edward Gibbon
The urgent consideration of the public safety may undoubtedly authorize the violation of every positive law. How far that or any other consideration may operate to dissolve the natural obligations of humanity and justice, is a doctrine of which I still desire to remain ignorant. – Edward Gibbon
However mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. – Henry David Thoreau