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From Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville
- I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions…
- Muhammad professed to derive from Heaven, and he has inserted in the Koran, not only a body of religious doctrines, but political maxims, civil and…
- Every central government worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an infinity of details.
- The Union was formed by the voluntary agreement of the States; and these, in uniting together, have not forfeited their Nationality, nor have they been…
- I see no clear reason why the doctrine of self-interest properly understood should turn men away from religious beliefs.
- When a large number of organs of the press come to advance along the same track, their influence becomes almost irresistible in the long term,…
- Though it is very important for man as an individual that his religion should be true, that is not the case for society. Society has…
- America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. No natural boundary seems to be…
- I am far from denying that newspapers in democratic countries lead citizens to do very ill-considered things in common; but without newspapers there would be…
- In towns it is impossible to prevent men from assembling, getting excited together and forming sudden passionate resolves. Towns are like great meeting houses with…
- Muhammad brought down from heaven and put into the Koran not religious doctrines only, but political maxims, criminal and civil laws, and scientific theories. The Gospels on…
- Every central government worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an infinity of details, which must be attended to if rules have to be…
- 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…
- Because Roman civilization perished through barbarian invasions, we are perhaps too much inclined to think that that is the only way a civilization can die.…
- Amongst democratic nations men easily attain a certain equality of conditions: they can never attain the equality they desire. It perpetually retires from before them,…
- Not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but also clouds their view of their descendants and isolates them from their contemporaries. Each…
- I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as…
- It is from the midst of this putrid sewer that the greatest river of human industry springs up and carries fertility to the whole world.…
- [T]he main evil of the present democratic institutions of the united states does not raise, as is often asserted in Europe, from their weakness, but…
- However energetically society in general may strive to make all the citizens equal and alike, the personal pride of each individual will always make him…
- Men living in democratic times have many passions, but most of their passions either end in the love of riches, or proceed from it.
- In cities men cannot be prevented from concerting together, and from awakening a mutual excitement which prompts sudden and passionate resolutions. Cities may be looked…
- The most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory;…
- What chiefly diverts the men of democracies from lofty ambition is not the scantiness of their fortunes, but the vehemence of the exertions they daily…
- The First thing that strikes a traveler in the United States is the innumerable multitude of those who seek to emerge from their original condition;…
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More From Quotes
- Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise. — Hannah Arendt
- By its very nature the beautiful is isolated from everything else. From beauty no road leads to reality. — Hannah Arendt
- No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has… — Hannah Arendt
- Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in… — Hannah Arendt
- Aside from a handful of guys boxing is missing the good trainers, that's why our sport is so in the air now… — Alexis Arguello
- From heresy, frenzy and jealousy, good Lord deliver me. — Ludovico Ariosto
- As far as we are concerned, we are ready to leave today, tomorrow, at any time, to join the people of Haiti,… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
- Haiti, Haiti, the further I am from you, the less I breathe. Haiti, I love you, and I will love you always.… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
- In 1994, when I went back to Haiti from exile, we established a Commission for Truth and Justice and Reconciliation. I passed… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
- Sometimes people who want to understand Haiti from a political perspective may be missing part of the picture. They also need to… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
- Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of… — Aristophanes
- At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. — Aristotle