Men will not receive the truth from their enemies, and it is seldom offered to them by their friends. Alexis de Tocqueville More Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville More Quotes From Alexis de Tocqueville It is from the midst of this putrid sewer that the greatest river of human industry springs up and carries fertility to the whole world. From this foul drain pure gold flows forth. Alexis de Tocqueville goldspringrivers [Liberty] considers religion as the safeguard of morality, and morality as the best security of law and the surest pledge of the duration of freedom. Alexis de Tocqueville durationlibertylaw The Americans make associations to give entertainment, to found seminaries, to build inns, to construct churches, to diffuse books, to send missionaries to the antipodes; in this manner, they found hospitals, prisons and schools. Alexis de Tocqueville givingbookschool A French observer is surprised to hear how often an English or an American lawyer quotes the opinions of others, and how little he alludes to his own; ... This abnegation of his own opinion, and this implicit deference to the opinion of his forefathers, which are common to the English and American lawyer, this servitude of thought which he is obliged to profess, necessarily give him more timid habits and more conservative inclinations in England and America than in France. Alexis de Tocqueville england-and-americalawgiving Nations, as well as man, almost always betray the most prominent features of their future destiny in their earliest years. Alexis de Tocqueville destinymenyears Men cannot abandon their religious faith without a kind of aberration of intellect and a sort of violent distortion of their true nature; they are invincibly brought back to more pious sentiments. Unbelief is an accident, and faith is the only permanent state of mankind. Alexis de Tocqueville aberrationreligiousmen The most durable monument of human labor is that which recalls the wretchedness and nothingness of man. Alexis de Tocqueville humanslabormen I do not find fault with equality for drawing men into the pursuit of forbidden pleasures, but for absorbing them entirely in the search for the pleasures that are permitted. Alexis de Tocqueville faultsdrawingmen The people reign over the American political world as God rules over the universe. It is the cause and the end of all things; everything rises out of it and is absorbed back into it. Alexis de Tocqueville politicalcausespeople The most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory; and in contemplating the cause of the present embarrassments, or the future dangers of the United States, the observer is invariably led to this as a primary fact. Alexis de Tocqueville blackcausesfacts What chiefly diverts the men of democracies from lofty ambition is not the scantiness of their fortunes, but the vehemence of the exertions they daily make to improve them. Alexis de Tocqueville democracyambitionmen Nations, as well as man, almost always betray the most prominent features of their future destiny in their earliest years. When I contemplate the ardour with which the Anglo-Americans prosecute commercial enterprise, the advantages which befriend them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot refrain from believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the world. Alexis de Tocqueville destinymenbelieve All revolutions more or less threaten the tenure of property: but most of those who live in democratic countries are possessed of property - not only are they possessed of property but they live in the condition of men who set the greatest store upon their property. Alexis de Tocqueville wisdommencountry In America, conscription is unknown; men are enlisted for payment. Compulsory recruitment is so alien to the ideas and so foreign to the customs of the people of the United States that I doubt whether they would ever dare to introduce it into their law. Alexis de Tocqueville lawmenamerica When a monarchy gradually transforms itself into a republic, the executive power there preserves titles, honors, respect, and even money long after it has lost the reality of power. The English, having cut off the head of one of their kings and chased another off the throne, still go on their knees to address the successors of those princes. On the other hand, when a republic falls under one man's yoke, the ruler's demeanor remains simple, unaffected, and modest, as if he had not already been raised above everybody. Alexis de Tocqueville cuttingkingsfall Countries, therefore, when lawmaking falls exclusively to the lot of the poor cannot hope for much economy in public expenditure; expenses will always be considerable, either because taxes cannot touch those who vote for them or because they are assessed in a way to prevent that. Alexis de Tocqueville countrywayfall In democratic countries as well as elsewhere most of the branches of productive industry are carried on at a small cost by men little removed by their wealth or education above the level of those whom they employ. Alexis de Tocqueville costmencountry Nations are less disposed to make revolutions in proportion as personal property is augmented and distributed among them, and as the number of those possessing it is increased. Alexis de Tocqueville politicswisdomnumbers There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin. Alexis de Tocqueville readingeducationdrama I am unaware of his plans but I shall never stop believing in them because I cannot fathom them and I prefer to mistrust my own intellectual capacities than his justice. Alexis de Tocqueville intellectualjusticebelieve
