Edward Gibbon

History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.

Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule.

My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the decent obscurity of a learned language.

It is characteristic of science that the full explanations are often seized in their essence by the percipient scientist long in advance of any possible proof.

I'm interested in the psychological exploration of human nature, and it just happens to come in the form of film-making.

The rise or fall of wages is common to all states of society, whether it be the stationary, the advancing, or the retrograde state.