“Democratic institutions strongly tend to promote the feeling of envy.” — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Amongst democratic nations, each new generation is a new people. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Another tendency, which is extremely natural to democratic nations and extremely dangerous, is that which leads them to despise and undervalue the… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Muhammad brought down from heaven and put into the Koran not religious doctrines only, but political maxims, criminal and civil laws, and… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Can it be believed that the democracy, which has overthrown the feudal system and vanquished kings, will retreat before tradesmen and capitalists? — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“It is extremely difficult to obtain a hearing from men living in democracies, unless it be to speak to them of themselves.… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
As for me, I am deeply a democrat; this is why I am in no way a socialist. Democracy and socialism cannot… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The genius of democracies is seen not only in the great number of new words introduced but even more in the new… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Aristocracy naturally leads the human mind to the contemplation of the past, and fixes it there. Democracy, on the contrary, gives men… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“In my opinion the main evil of the present democratic institutions of the United States does not arise, as is often asserted… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I have an intellectual inclination for democratic institutions, but I am instinctively an aristocrat, which means that I despise and fear the… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“During my stay in the United States, I witnessed the spontaneous formation of committees in a country for the pursuit and prosecution… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people's reach... — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“In running over the pages of our history for seven hundred years, we shall scarcely find a single great event which has… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Democracy encourages a taste for physical gratification; this taste, if it becomes excessive, soon disposes men to believe that all is matter… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Our contemporaries are constantly excited by two conflicting passions; they want to be led, and they wish to remain free: as they… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The taste which men have for liberty and that which they feel for equality are, in fact, two different things...among democratic nations… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“The democratic nations that have introduced freedom into their political constitution at the very time when they were augmenting the despotism of… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“He who in given cases consents to obey his fellows with servility, and who submits his will, and even his thoughts, to… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I considered mores to be one of the great general causes responsible for the maintenance of a democratic republic . . .… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Democracy extends the sphere of personal independence; socialism confines it. Democracy values each man at his highest; socialism makes of each man… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Democracy does not create strong ties between people. But it does make living together easier. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“But a democracy can only obtain truth as the result of experience, and many nations may forfeit their existence whilst they are… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
No state of society or laws can render men so much alike but that education, fortune, and tastes will interpose some differences between them;… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
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… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“I am unacquainted with His designs, but I shall not cease to believe in them because I cannot fathom them, and I had rather… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositories of the various creeds and have… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The more alike men are, the weaker each feels in the face of all. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“There is a twofold liberty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal. The first is common to man… — Alexis De Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
