“ History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ 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. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ Every nation that has ended in tyranny has come to that end by way of good order. It certainly does not follow from this that peoples should scorn public peace, but neither should they be satisfied wi… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ It is above all in the present democratic age that the true friends of liberty and human grandeur must remain constantly vigilant and ready to prevent the social power from lightly sacrificing the par… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ 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 cl… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ I follow the course marked out by my principles and, what is more, enjoy a deep and noble pleasure in following it. You deeply despise the human race, at least our part of it; you think it not only fa… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor as such differences become less, it grows feeble and when they disappear, it will vanish too. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ 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. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ I have always thought it rather interesting to follow the involuntary movements of fear in clever people. Fools coarsely display their cowardice in all its nakedness, but the others are able to cover… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ A man who should undertake to inquire into everything for himself, could devote to each thing but little time and attention. His task would keep his mind in perpetual unrest, which would prevent him f… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ Montaigne said long ago: "Were I not to follow the straight road for its straightness, I should follow it for having found by experience that in the end it is commonly the happiest and most useful tra… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ The short space of threescore years can never content the imagination of man; nor can the imperfect joys of this world satisfy his heart. Man alone, of all created beings, displays a natural contempt… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ [Patriotism] is in itself a kind of religion: it does not reason, but it acts from the impulse of faith and sentiment. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ The only way to neutralize the effect of public journals is to multiply them indefinitely. Alexis de Tocqueville
“ In a democracy private citizens see a man of their own rank in life who becomes possessed of riches and power in a few years; this spectacle excites their surprise and envy, and they are led to inquir… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ [N]ow that I am drawing to the close of this work, in which I have spoken of so many important things done by the Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought m… Alexis de Tocqueville
“ In the midst of the apparent diversity of human affairs, a certain number of primary facts may be discovered, from which all others are derived. Alexis de Tocqueville
