Alexis de Tocqueville quotes

I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all. (Alexis de Tocqueville)
The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in? View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
In a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort. (Alexis de Tocqueville)
No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
In America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
In no other country in the world is the love of property keener or more alert than in the United States, and nowhere else does the majority display less inclination toward doctrines which in any way threaten the way property is owned. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
Nothing seems at first sight less important than the outward form of human actions, yet there is nothing upon which men set more store: they grow used to everything except to living in a society which has not their own manners. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor; as such differences become less, it grows feeble; and when they disappear, it will vanish too. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The French want no-one to be their superior. The English want inferiors. The Frenchman constantly raises his eyes above him with anxiety. The Englishman lowers his beneath him with satisfaction. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing. (Alexis de Tocqueville)
The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The whole life of an American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a battle. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
The genius of democracies is seen not only in the great number of new words introduced but even more in the new ideas they express. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville
He was as great as a man can be without morality. View quote
Alexis de Tocqueville