A man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEIn 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.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite mankind.
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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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The more government takes the place of associations, the more will individuals lose the idea of forming associations and need the government to come to their help. That is a vicious circle of cause and effect.
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The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.
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One of the most ordinary weaknesses of the human intellect is to seek to reconcile contrary principles, and to purchase peace at the expense of logic.
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As the past has ceased to throw its light upon the future, the mind of man wanders in obscurity.
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Life is to be entered upon with courage.
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Generally speaking, only simple conceptions can grip the mind of a nation. An idea that is clear and precise even though false will always have greater power in the world than an idea that is true but complex.
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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.
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Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all.
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I have only one passion, the love of liberty and human dignity.
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The last thing a political party gives up is its vocabulary.
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Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.
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Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure.
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Those who prize freedom only for the material benefits it offers have never kept it for long.
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