Edward Gibbon

“Beauty is an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.”

“Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.”

“I was never less alone than when by myself.”

“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.”

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

“The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”

“Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition.”

“Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book.”

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

“I understand by this passion the union of desire, friendship, and tenderness, which is inflamed by a single female, which prefers her to the rest of her sex, and which seeks her possession as the supreme or the sole happiness of our being.”

“The courage of a soldier is found to be the cheapest and most common quality of human nature.”