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.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEEvery central government worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an infinity of details.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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America is great because she is good.
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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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A man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.
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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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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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Socialism is a new form of slavery.
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In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships.
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The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other.
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Nothing is so dangerous as that of violence employed by well-meaning people for beneficial objects.
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Men will not receive the truth from their enemies, and it is seldom offered to them by their friends.
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If 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.
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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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Equality is a slogan based on envy. It signifies in the heart of every republican: “Nobody is going to occupy a place higher than I.”
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As for me, I am deeply a democrat; this is why I am in no way a socialist. Democracy and socialism cannot go together. You can’t have it both ways. Socialism is a new form of slavery.
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I have only one passion, the love of liberty and human dignity.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE







