In America, more than anywhere else in the world, care has been taken constantly to trace clearly distinct spheres of action for the two sexes, and both are required to keep in step, but along paths that are never the same. Alexis de Tocqueville More Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville More Quotes From Alexis de Tocqueville In America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them. Alexis de Tocqueville freedom writing america I have an intellectual inclination for democratic institutions, but I am instinctively an aristocrat, which means that I despise and fear the masses. I passionately love liberty, legality, the respect for rights, but not democracy....liberty is my foremost passion. That is the truth. Alexis de Tocqueville passion rights mean Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people's reach. Alexis de Tocqueville democracy people school Useful undertakings which require sustained attention and vigorous precision in order to succeed often end up by being abandoned, for, in America, as elsewhere, the people move forward by sudden impulses and short-lived efforts. Alexis de Tocqueville order america moving When none but the wealthy had watches, they were almost all very good ones; few are now made which are worth much, but everybody has one in his pocket. Alexis de Tocqueville pockets class watches It is an axiom of political science in the United States that the sole means of neutralizing the effects of newspapers is to multiply their number. Alexis de Tocqueville political numbers mean If it be admitted that a man, possessing absolute power, may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should a majority not be liable to the same reproach? Men are not apt to change their character by agglomeration; nor does their patience in the presence of obstacles increase with the consciousness of their strength. And for these reasons I can never willingly invest any number of my fellow creatures with that unlimited authority which I should refuse to any one of them. Alexis de Tocqueville numbers character men Among these widely differing families of men, the first that attracts attention, the superior in intelligence, in power, and in enjoyment, is the white, or European, the MAN pre-eminently so called, below him appear the Negro and the Indian. Alexis de Tocqueville white attention men In towns it is impossible to prevent men from assembling, getting excited together and forming sudden passionate resolves. Towns are like great meeting houses with all the inhabitants as members. In them the people wield immense influence over their magistrates and often carry their desires into execution without intermediaries. Alexis de Tocqueville men america people It is certain that despotism ruins individuals by preventing them from producing wealth much more than by depriving them of what they have already produced; it dries up the source of riches, while it usually respects acquired property. Freedom, on the contrary, produces far more goods than it destroys; and the nations which are favored by free institutions invariably find that their resources increase even more rapidly than their taxes. Alexis de Tocqueville ruins riches wealth Of all the countries of the world America is the one where the movement of thought and human industry is the most continuous and swift. Alexis de Tocqueville countries-of-the-world country america When the people rule, they must be rendered happy, or they will overturn the state. Alexis de Tocqueville rebellion revolution people When fortune has been abolished, when every profession is open to everyone, an ambitious man may think it is easy to launch himself on a great career and feel that he has been called to no common destiny. But this is a delusion which experience quickly corrects. Alexis de Tocqueville depressing destiny men I have always noticed in politics how often men are ruined by having too good a memory. Alexis de Tocqueville ruined men memories No stigma attaches to the love of money in America, and provided it does not exceed the bounds imposed by public order, it is held in honor. The American will describe as noble and estimable ambition that our medieval ancestors would have called base cupidity. Alexis de Tocqueville ambition order america What is understood by republican government in the United States is the slow and quiet action of society upon itself. Alexis de Tocqueville republican-government united-states world It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. Alexis de Tocqueville details-of-life forgotten men Any measure that establishes legal charity on a permanent basis and gives it an administrative form thereby creates an idle and lazy class, living at the expense of the industrial and working class. Alexis de Tocqueville lazy class giving Born often under another sky, placed in the middle of an always moving scene, himself driven by the irresistible torrent which draws all about him, the American has no time to tie himself to anything, he grows accustomed only to change, and ends by regarding it as the natural state of man. He feels the need of it, more he loves it; for the instability; instead of meaning disaster to him, seems to give birth only to miracles all about him. Alexis de Tocqueville change love moving The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens. Alexis de Tocqueville quality citizens wisdom
