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.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the value of toleration in religious beliefs, illustrating how different perspectives can coexist peacefully.
Edward Gibbon reflects on the Roman approach to religion, where various worship practices were seen as valid by the people, dismissive by philosophers, and beneficial by magistrates. This approach led to a society where mutual respect and religious concord were possible, highlighting the importance of toleration in maintaining harmony among diverse beliefs.
In practice
In a speech promoting peace, one might include this quote to highlight the importance of religious tolerance.
It was Rome, on the fifteenth of October, 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter, that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind.
I will not dissemble the first emotions of joy on the recovery of my freedom, and, perhaps, the establishment of my fame. But my pride was soon humbled, and a sober melancholy was spread over my mind, by the idea that I had taken an everlasting leave of an old and agreeable companion, and that whatsoever might be the future date of my History, the life of the historian must be short and precarious.
And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
The first and indispensable requisite of happiness is a clear conscience.
In discussing Barbarism and Christianity I have actually been discussing the Fall of Rome.
Many a sober Christian would rather admit that a wafer is God than that God is a cruel and capricious tyrant.
Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children.
I cannot command winds and weather.
Living on $6 a day means you have a refrigerator, a TV, a cell phone, your children can go to school. That's not possible on $1 a day.
...people with nothing to declare carry the most.
Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe
Man is the highest being that exists, and this is the greatest world.
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