“I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.”
Freedom
“Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves.”
BestAll Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville
“There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it.”
War“History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.”
History“In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.”
Government“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.”
Men“We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects.”
Business“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
Faith“Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”
Equality“What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class.”
Great“The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people.”
Power“In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships.”
Politics“The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality.”
Business“No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country.”
Freedom“A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.”
Government“Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves.”
Best“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.”
Society“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”
Money“The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies.”
Great“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.”
Equality“Life is to be entered upon with courage.”
Courage