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. Alexis de Tocqueville More Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville More Quotes From Alexis de Tocqueville 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 intellectual justice believe Though it is very important for man as an individual that his religion should be true, that is not the case for society. Society has nothing to fear or hope from another life; what is most important for it is not that all citizens profess the true religion but that they should profess religion. Alexis de Tocqueville multicultural-society men religion Physical strength therefore is one of the first conditions of happiness and even of the existence of nations. Alexis de Tocqueville physical-strength existence firsts On this waterlogged landscape....are scattered palaces and hovels....It is here that the human spirit becomes perfect, and at the same time brutalised, that civilisation produces its marvels and that civilised man returns to the savage. Alexis de Tocqueville cities perfect men I know without needing to hear the voice of the Creator that the stars trace out in space the orbits which His hand has drawn. Alexis de Tocqueville voice stars hands The aspect of American society is animated, because men and things are always changing; but it is monotonous, because all the changes are alike. Alexis de Tocqueville aspect animated men He who seeks freedom for anything but freedom's self is made to be a slave. Alexis de Tocqueville slave self made The only authors whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They, indeed, are not great writers, but they speak the language of their countrymen, and make themselves heard by them. Alexis de Tocqueville journalism language speak America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. Alexis de Tocqueville improvement land america 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 equality taken sex The electors see their representative not only as a legislator for the state but also as the natural protector of local interests in the legislature; indeed, they almost seem to think that he has a power of attorney to represent each constituent, and they trust him to be as eager in their private interests as in those of the country. Alexis de Tocqueville country america thinking The regime which is destroyed by a revolution is almost always an improvement on its immediate predecessor, and experience teaches that the most critical moment for bad governments is the one which witnesses their first steps toward reform. Alexis de Tocqueville critical-moments reform government Freedom sees in religion the companion of its struggles and its triumphs, the cradle of its infancy, the divine source of its rights. It considers religion as the safeguard of mores; and mores as the guarantee of laws and the pledge of its duration. Alexis de Tocqueville religious struggle rights I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. Alexis de Tocqueville paganism men world I am obliged to confess that I do not regard the abolition of slavery as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races in the Southern states. The Negroes may long remain slaves without complaining; but if they are once raised to the level of freemen, they will soon revolt at being deprived of almost all their civil rights; and as they cannot become the equals of the whites, they will speedily show themselves as enemies. Alexis de Tocqueville struggle war mean It is almost never when a state of things is the most detestable that it is smashed, but when, beginning to improve, it permits men to breathe, to reflect, to communicate their thoughts with each other, and to gauge by what they already have the extent of their rights and their grievances. The weight, although less heavy, seems then all the more unbearable. Alexis de Tocqueville gauges rights men In democratic centuries, on the contrary, when the duties of each individual toward the species are much clearer, devotion toward one man becomes rarer: the bond of human affections is extended and loosened. Alexis de Tocqueville affection democracy men Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people. Alexis de Tocqueville power law people Military discipline is merely a perfection of social servitude. Alexis de Tocqueville discipline military perfection Religion, which never intervenes directly in the government of American society, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions Alexis de Tocqueville political government firsts
