67 Enlightening Quotes By Alexis De Tocqueville, The Author Of Democracy In America
Alexis de Tocqueville was a French diplomat, political scientist and historian who was known for his books on democracy. He was fascinated by the way people lived in democratic countries. He argued that the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state. Tocqueville had also played a major role in eradication of racism that further contributed to healthier relationships between nations. He blamed the failure of the French Revolution on the inexperience of the deputies with abstract Enlightenment ideals. He also tried making reforms to democratic governments by implementing rules that curbed the misuse of authority and freedom. Though Tocqueville had not seen what slavery would be under democracy, he advocated its abolishment. Check out some enlightening quotes by Tocqueville.
The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.
I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.
Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.
Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.
There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.
Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure
History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.
Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all.
There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it.
When I refuse to obey an unjust law, I do not contest the right of the majority to command, but I simply appeal from the sovereignty of the people to the sovereignty of mankind.
Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy; those who had anything united in common terror.
The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.
I am unaware of his plans but I shall never stop believing in them because I cannot fathom them and I prefer to mistrust my own intellectual capacities than his justice.
We can state with conviction, therefore, that a man's support for absolute government is in direct proportion to the contempt he feels for his country.
The happy and powerful do not go into exile, and there are no surer guarantees of equality among men than poverty and misfortune.
Slavery...dishonors labor. It introduces idleness into society, and with idleness, ignorance and pride, luxury and distress. It enervates the powers of the mind and benumbs the activity of man.
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.
A man's admiration for absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.
On close inspection, we shall find that religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the long-lived prosperity of an absolute government.
The most perilous moment for a bad government is one when it seeks to mend its ways.
The more alike men are, the weaker each feels in the face of all.
I am unacquainted with His designs, but I shall not cease to believe in them because I cannot fathom them, and I had rather mistrust my own capacity than His justice
Men will not accept truth at the hands of their enemies, and truth is seldom offered to them by their friends
The most durable monument of human labor is that which recalls the wretchedness and nothingness of man.
Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.
Men who so uneasily tolerate superiors patiently suffer a master, and show themselves proud and servile at the same time.
Patriotism is most often nothing more but an extension of individual egoism
There is no country in the world in which everything can be provided for by laws, or in which political institutions can prove a substitute for common sense and public morality.
