The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEIf ever America undergoes great revolutions, they will be brought about by the presence of the black race on the soil of the United States – that is to say, they will owe their origin not to the equality but to the inequality of conditions.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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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.
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Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
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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.
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Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of order.
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History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.
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The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.
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A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.
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A man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.
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I have only one passion, the love of liberty and human dignity.
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Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom.
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The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage.
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The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.
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Righteous women in their circle of influence, beginning in the home, can turn the world around.
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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, and public opinion, struck always from the same side, ends by yielding under their blows.
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As the past has ceased to throw its light upon the future, the mind of man wanders in obscurity.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE