When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEAs 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.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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Life is to be entered upon with courage.
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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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America is great because she is good.
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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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It is easier for the world to accept a simple lie than a complex truth.
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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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However energetically society in general may strive to make all the citizens equal and alike, the personal pride of each individual will always make him try to escape from the common level, and he will form some inequality somewhere to his own profit.
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The man who asks of freedom anything other than itself is born to be a slave.
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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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One of the happiest consequences of the absence of government is the development of individual strength that inevitably follows.
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To remain silent is the most useful service that a mediocre speaker can render to the public good.
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The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.
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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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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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Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE