Democratic nations care but little for what has been, but they are haunted by visions of what will be. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Amongst democratic nations, each new generation is a new people. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Of all nations, those submit to civilization with the most difficulty which habitually live by the chase. — 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. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The will of the nation is one of those phrases most widely abused by schemers and tyrants of all ages. — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Generally speaking, only simple conceptions can grip the mind of a nation. An idea that is clear and precise even though false… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
A long war almost always places nations in this sad alternative: that their defeat delivers them to destruction and their triumph to… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The French constitute the most brilliant and the most dangerous nation in Europe and the best qualified in turn to become an… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
There is one universal law that has been formed, or at least adoptedby the majority of mankind. That law is justice. Justice… — 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
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
There are at the present time two great nations in the world allude to the Russians and the Americans All other nations… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
In the United States the sovereign authority is religious, and consequently hypocrisy must be common; but there is no country in the… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
In the United States, except for slaves, servants and the destitute fed by townships, everyone has the vote and this is an… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
It is certain that despotism ruins individuals by preventing them from producing wealth much more than by depriving them of what they… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
The public, therefore, among a democratic people, has a singular power, which aristocratic nations cannot conceive; for it does not persuade others… — 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… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Local assemblies of the people constitute the strength of free nations. Municipal institutions are to liberty what primary schools are to science:… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Physical strength therefore is one of the first conditions of happiness and even of the existence of nations. — 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
Nations are less disposed to make revolutions in proportion as personal property is augmented and distributed among them, and as the number… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of… — 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
There are at the present time two great nations in the world--the Russians and the Americans. The American relies upon his personal… — 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
Religion in America . . . Must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions for that country; for if it… — Alexis de Tocqueville Copy Share Image
It would seem that if despotism were to be established among the democratic nations of our days, it might assume a different… — 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
