But the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous. – Edward Gibbon
History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. – Edward Gibbon
The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive. – Edward Gibbon
No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been. – Hannah Arendt