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Edward Gibbon

Geburtstag: 8. Mai 1737
Todesdatum: 16. Januar 1794
Andere Namen:ಗಿಬ್ಬನ್, ಎಡ್ವರ್ಡ್, एडवार्ड गिबन, Эдвард Гиббон

Edward Gibbon war einer der bedeutendsten britischen Historiker in der Zeit der Aufklärung. Sein Hauptwerk ist The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Zitate Edward Gibbon

„Die Geschichte ist nicht viel mehr als eine Aufzählung der Verbrechen, Narrheiten und Unglücksfälle der Menschheit.“

— Edward Gibbon
Geschichte des Verfalls und Untergangs des Römischen Reiches

Über Glück, Geschichte

„Der Theologe kann der angenehmen Aufgabe frönen, die Religion zu beschreiben, wie sie in ihre ursprüngliche Reinheit bekleidet, vom Himmel herunterkam. Dem Historiker wird aber eine leidigere Aufgabe aufgezwungen. Er muss die unvermeidliche Mischung von Mängeln und Korruption entdecken, die sich während eines langen Aufenthalts auf der Erde, bei einer schwachen und entarteten Rasse von Wesen, eingesammelt hat.“

— Edward Gibbon
aus Geschichte des Verfalls und Untergangs des Römischen Reiches, Übersetzung: Nino Barbieri

Über Religion

„Wind und Wellen sind immer auf der Seite des besseren Seefahrers.“

— Edward Gibbon
Geschichte des Verfalls und Untergang des Römischen Reiches

„We improve ourselves by victory over our self. There must be contests, and you must win.“

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— Edward Gibbon

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

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— Edward Gibbon
Vol. 1, Chap. 68. Compare: "On dit que Dieu est toujours pour les gros bataillons" (translated: "It is said that God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions"), Voltaire, Letter to M. le Riche. 1770; "J'ai toujours vu Dieu du coté des gros bataillons (translated: "I have always noticed that God is on the side of the heaviest battalions"), De la Ferté to Anne of Austria.

„The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.“

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— Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Context: The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. Context: The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. The superstition of the people was not embittered by any mixture of theological rancour; nor was it confined by the chains of any speculative system. The devout polytheist, though fondly attached to his national rites, admitted with implicit faith the different religions of the earth. Fear, gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually disposed him to multiply the articles of his belief, and to enlarge the list of his protectors. The thin texture of the Pagan mythology was interwoven with various but not discordant materials. Volume 1, Chapter 2 "Of the Union and Internal Prosperity of the Roman Empire, in the Age of the Antonines" http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume1/chap2.htm. The portion regarding the views of the religions of the time taken by various constituencies has been misreported as Gibbon's own assessment of religion generally. See Paul F. Boller, John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions (1990), pp. 34–35. The bold text has been misattributed to Lucretius and Seneca the Younger.