William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Whence has come thy lasting power.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky

The stately ship is seen no more,Still floats above the wrecks of Time.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Terror is everywhere the beginning of religion.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky

The great difficulty of Christianity is that many of the Bible revelations seem to clash with our sense of justice and right.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky

At one time the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity, and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world. In each of these stages a standard is formed, different from that of the preceding stage, but in each case the same tendency is recognised as virtue.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky

It is abundantly evident, both from history and from present experience, that the instinctive shock, or natural feeling of disgust, caused by the sight of the sufferings of men is not generically different from that which is caused by the sight of the sufferings of animals.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky

There have certainly been many periods in history when virtue was more rare than under the Caesars; but there has probably never been a period when vice was more extravagant or uncontrolled.

— William Edward Hartpole Lecky