The principle of equality does not destroy the imagination, but lowers its flight to the level of the earth. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.” — 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
The happy and powerful do not go into exile, and there are no surer guarantees of equality among men than poverty and… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
If men are to remain civilized or to become so, the art of associating together must grow and improve in the same… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Now I know of only two methods of establishing equality in the political world; every citizen must be put in possession of… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
In the principle of equality I very clearly discern two tendencies; one leading the mind of every man to untried thoughts, the… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I know of no other country where love of money has such a grip on men's hearts or where stronger scorn is… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
However energetically society in general may strive to make all the citizens equal and alike, the personal pride of each individual will… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom… The subjection of individuals… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Democratic institutions awaken and foster a passion for equality which they can never entirely satisfy. This complete equality eludes the grasp of… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Among the laws controlling human societies there is one more precise and clearer, it seems to me, than all the others. If… — Alexis De Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Democratic communities have a natural taste for freedom: left to themselves they will seek it, cherish it, and view any deprivation of… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“Now, these eager and apprehensive men of small property constitute the class which is constantly increased by the equality of conditions. Hence,… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The nations of our time cannot prevent the conditions of men from becoming equal, but it depends upon themselves whether the principle… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The foremost or indeed sole condition required in order to succeed in centralizing the supreme power in a democratic community is to… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“The principle of equality, which makes men independent of each other, gives them a habit and a taste for following, in their… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Amongst democratic nations men easily attain a certain equality of conditions: they can never attain the equality they desire. It perpetually retires… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
I do not find fault with equality for drawing men into the pursuit of forbidden pleasures, but for absorbing them entirely in… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Equality is a slogan based on envy. It signifies in the heart of every republican: "Nobody is going to occupy a place… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
But one also finds in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to want to bring the… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
A state of equality is perhaps less elevated, but it is more just; and its justice constitutes its greatness and beauty. — 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 main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
In America, more than anywhere else in the world, care has been taken constantly to trace clearly distinct spheres of action for… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“A depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
“The foremost, or indeed the sole condition, which is required in order to succeed in centralizing the supreme power in a democratic… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
There is in fact a manly and legitimate passion for equality that spurs all men to wish to be strong and esteemed.… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for equality which excites men to wish all to be powerful and honored.… — 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
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
