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.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEOne 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.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.
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There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.
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Life is to be entered upon with courage.
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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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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.
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Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure.
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If an American was condemned to confine his activity to his own affairs, he would be robbed of one half of his existence.
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Men are not corrupted by the exercise of power or debased by the habit of obedience, but by the exercise of a power which they believe to be illegal and by obedience to a rule which they consider to be usurped and oppressive.
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In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships.
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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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America is a country where they have freedom of speech but everyone says the same thing.
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History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.
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There is no country in the world in which everything can be provided for by the laws, or in which political institutions can prove a substitute for common sense and public morality.
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The last thing a political party gives up is its vocabulary.
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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 absolute power with the moral authority that comes from popular assent.
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