The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLEMen will not receive the truth from their enemies, and it is seldom offered to them by their friends.
More Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes
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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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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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This so-called tolerance, which, in my opinion, is nothing but a huge indifference.
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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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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 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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History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.
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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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Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure.
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Righteous women in their circle of influence, beginning in the home, can turn the world around.
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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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Socialism is a new form of slavery.
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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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Those which we call necessary institutions are simply no more than institutions to which we have become accustomed.
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Those who prize freedom only for the material benefits it offers have never kept it for long.
ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE