I shall not fear to say that the doctrine of self-interest rightly understood seems to me of all the philosophic theories the… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
When the taste for physical gratifications among them has grown more rapidly than their education . . . the time will come… — 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
A man who raises himself by degrees to wealth and power, contracts, in the course of this protracted labor, habits of prudence… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The civil jury is the most effective form of sovereignty of the people. It defies the aggressions of time and man. During… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Every central government worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an infinity of details, which must be attended to if rules… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Though it is very important for man as an individual that his religion should be true, that is not the case for… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Among these widely differing families of men, the first that attracts attention, the superior in intelligence, in power, and in enjoyment, is… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Nations, as well as man, almost always betray the most prominent features of their future destiny in their earliest years. When I… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. No natural boundary… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The territorial aristocracy of former ages was either bound by law, or thought itself bound by usage, to come to the relief… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Born often under another sky, placed in the middle of an always moving scene, himself driven by the irresistible torrent which draws… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
above this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications, and to… — 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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
“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
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
Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share
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… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share
