If the empire had been afflicted by any recent calamity, by a plague, a famine, or an unsuccessful war; if the Tiber had, or if the Nile had not, risen beyond its banks; if the earth had shaken, or if the temperate order of the seasons had been interrupted, the superstitious Pagans were convinced that the crimes and the impiety of the Christians, who were spared by the excessive lenity of the government, had at length provoked the divine justice. Edward Gibbon
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  2. The sense of tragedy - according to Aristotle - comes, ironically enough, not from the protagonist's weak points but from his good qualities. Do you know what I'm getting at? People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues....[ But]... - Haruki Murakami

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More Quotes By Edward Gibbon
  1. ... but I must reluctantly observe that two causes, the abbreviation of time, and the failure of hope, will always tinge with a browner shade the evening of life.

  2. Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.

  3. Every person has two educations, one which he receives from others, and one, more important, which he gives to himself.

  4. Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our mind the minds of sages and heroes.

  5. War, in its fairest form, implies a perpetual violation of humanity and justice.

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