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Quote#Politics & Power

It has been calculated by the ablest politicians that no State,…

Quote byEdward Gibbon · 1737–1794

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The History of the Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1776–1788), Chap. 5.

English (original)

It has been calculated by the ablest politicians that no State, without being soon exhausted, can maintain above the hundredth part of its members in arms and idleness.

— Edward Gibbon

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