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.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEWe 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.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.
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In the principle of equality I very clearly discern two tendencies; one leading the mind of every man to untried thoughts, the other prohibiting him from thinking at all.
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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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Nothing is so dangerous as that of violence employed by well-meaning people for beneficial objects.
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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?
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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.
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I have seen Americans making great and sincere sacrifices for the key common good and a hundred times I have noticed that, when needs be, they almost always gave each other faithful support.
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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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Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all.
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The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.
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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.
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The most perilous moment for a bad government is when it seeks to mend its ways. Only consummate statecraft can enable a king to save his throne when, after a long spell of oppression, he sets out to improve the lot of his subjects.
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Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.
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The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite mankind.
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I should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it.
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