[the Monks'] Credulity Debased And Vitiated The

Style Is The Image Of Character.

But The Desire Of Obtaining The Advantages, And Of Escaping The Burdens, Of Political Society, Is A Perpetual And Inexhaustible Source Of Discord.

The Urgent Consideration Of The Public Safety May Undoubtedly Authorize The Violation Of Every Positive Law. How Far That Or Any Other Consideration May Operate To Dissolve The Natural Obligations Of Humanity And Justice, Is A Doctrine Of Which I Still Desire To Remain Ignorant.

[personal] Industry Must Be Faint And Languid, Which Is Not Excited By The Sense Of Personal Interest.

But [the Arabs'] Friendship Was Venal, Their Faith Inconstant, Their Enmity Capricious: It Was An Easier Task To Excite Than To Disarm These Roving Barbarians; And, In The Familiar Intercourse Of War, They Learned To See, And To Despise, The Splendid Weakness Both Of Rome And Of Persia.