There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEThe greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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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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In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships.
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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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Those which we call necessary institutions are simply no more than institutions to which we have become accustomed.
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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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The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite mankind.
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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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Socialism is a new form of slavery.
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One of the happiest consequences of the absence of government is the development of individual strength that inevitably follows.
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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 most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.
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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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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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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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The last thing a political party gives up is its vocabulary.
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I vow that I do not hold that complete and instantaneous love for the freedom of the press that one accords to things whose nature is unqualifiedly good. I love it out of consideration for the evils it prevents much more than for the good it does.
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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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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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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 man who asks of freedom anything other than itself is born to be a slave.
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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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There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.
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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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America is a country where they have freedom of speech but everyone says the same thing.
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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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