---
title: "1 Authority Comes Quotes By Alexis de Tocqueville"
description: "1 Authority Comes quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville. Plus more from Alexis de Tocqueville and more Authority Comes sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/alexis-de-tocqueville-625_absolute-power_rulers-who-destroy-men-s-freedom-commonl_2477838.jpg"
---

> [Rulers who destroy men's freedom commonly begin by trying to retain its forms. ... They cherish the illusion that they can combine the prerogatives of absolute power with the moral authority that comes from popular assent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/rulers-who-destroy-men-s-freedom-commonly-begin-by-trying-to-retain/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/889/alexis-de-tocqueville-625_absolute-power_rulers-who-destroy-men-s-freedom-commonl_2477838.jpg)

## More by Alexis de Tocqueville

> [All around you everything is on the move,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/all-around-you-everything-is-on-the-move/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [No state of society or laws can render men so much alike but that education, fortune, and tastes will interpose some differences between them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/no-state-of-society-or-laws-can-render-men-so-much-alike-but-that/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-do-not-know-if-the-people-of-the-united-states-would-vote-for/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [What good does it do me, after all, if an ever-watchful authority keeps an eye out to ensure that my pleasures will be tranquil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/what-good-does-it-do-me-after-all-if-an-ever-watchful-authority-keeps/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-greatness-of-america-lies-not-in-being-more-enlightened-than-any/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [“I am unacquainted with His designs, but I shall not cease to believe in them because I cannot fathom them, and I had rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-am-unacquainted-with-his-designs-but-i-shall-not-cease-to-believe/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositories of the various creeds and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-questioned-the-faithful-of-all-communions-i-particularly-sought-the/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/christianity-is-the-companion-of-liberty-in-all-its-conflicts-the/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [The more alike men are, the weaker each feels in the face of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-more-alike-men-are-the-weaker-each-feels-in-the-face-of-all/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [“There is a twofold liberty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal. The first is common to man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/there-is-a-twofold-liberty-natural-i-mean-as-our-nature-is-now/)

[Alexis De Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/upon-my-arrival-in-the-united-states-the-religious-aspect-of-the/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-often-presents-itself-as-the-repairer-of-all-the-ills/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [On this waterlogged landscape…are scattered palaces and hovels…It is here that the human spirit becomes perfect, and at the same time brutalised, that civilisation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/on-this-waterlogged-landscape-are-scattered-palaces-and-hovels-it-is/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

> [“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-may-govern-without-faith-but-liberty-cannot/)

[Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/)

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