Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes - Page 11

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In countries where associations are free, secret societies are unknown. In America there are factions, but no conspiracies.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Country, America, Secret

Democracy in America vol. 2, ch. 4 (1835) (translation by Henry Reeve)

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I shall not fear to say that the doctrine of self-interest rightly understood seems to me of all the philosophic theories the most appropriate to the needs of men in our time, and that I see in it the most powerful guarantee against themselves that remains to them. The minds of the moralists of our day ought to turn, therefore, principally toward it. Even should they judge it imperfect, they would still have to adopt it as necessary.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Powerful, Men, Self

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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

Men, America, Law

"Democracy in America". Book by Alexis de Tocqueville. Chapter XIII, 1835.

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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

Men, Rights, Gauges

Alexis de Tocqueville, Roger Boesche, James Toupin (1986). “Selected Letters on Politics and Society”, p.296, Univ of California Press

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Among the droves of men with political ambitions in the United States, I found very few with that virile candor, that manly independence of thought, that often distinguished Americans in earlier times and that is invariably the preeminent trait of great characters wherever it exists.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Character, Ambition, Men

Alexis de Tocqueville, Arthur Goldhammer (2004). “Democracy in America”, p.297, Library of America

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In the United States, except for slaves, servants and the destitute fed by townships, everyone has the vote and this is an indirect contributor to law-making. Anyone wishing to attack the
law is thus reduced to adopting one of two obvious courses: they must either change the nation's opinion or trample its wishes under foot.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Law, Two, Feet

"Democracy in America". Book by Alexis de Tocqueville. Chapter XIV, 1835.

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Physical strength therefore is one of the first conditions of happiness and even of the existence of nations.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Firsts, Existence, Physical Strength

Alexis de Tocqueville (1839). “Democracy in America”, p.158

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In cities men cannot be prevented from concerting together, and from awakening a mutual excitement which prompts sudden and passionate resolutions. Cities may be looked upon as large assemblies, of which all the inhabitants are members; their populace exercises a prodigious influence upon the magistrates, and frequently executes its own wishes without their intervention.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Exercise, Men, Cities

Alexis de Tocqueville (1839). “Democracy in America”, p.289

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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

Men, Aspect, Animated

Alexis De Tocqueville (2013). “Democracy in America -”, p.237, Read Books Ltd

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In democratic ages men rarely sacrifice themselves for another, but they show a general compassion for all the human race. One never sees them inflict pointless suffering, and they are glad to relieve the sorrows of others when they can do so without much trouble to themselves. They are not disinterested, but they are gentle.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Sacrifice, Men, Compassion

Alexis de Tocqueville (1990). “Democracy in America”

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There is no philosopher in the world so great but he believes a million things on the faith of other people and accepts a great many more truths than he demonstrates.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Truth, Believe, People

Alexis De Tocqueville (2013). “Democracy in America -”, p.17, Read Books Ltd

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The public, therefore, among a democratic people, has a singular power, which aristocratic nations cannot conceive; for it does not persuade others to its beliefs, but it imposes them and makes them permeate the thinking of everyone by a sort of enormous pressure of the mind of all upon the individual intelligence.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Thinking, People, Mind

Alexis de Tocqueville (1840). “Democracy in America”, p.10

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Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people's reach.

Alexis de Tocqueville

School, People, Democracy

Alexis De Tocqueville (2009). “Democracy in America: Volumes I & II”, p.127, The Floating Press

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Whatever may be the general endeavor of a community to render its members equal and alike, the personal pride of individuals will always seek to rise above the line, and to form somewhere an inequality to their own advantage.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Pride, Community, Lines

Alexis de Tocqueville (2003). “Democracy in America”, p.551, Regnery Publishing

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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

Alexis De Tocqueville (2009). “Democracy in America: Volumes I & II”, p.754, The Floating Press

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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

Men, White, Attention

Alexis de Tocqueville (2003). “Democracy in America”, p.304, Barnes & Noble Publishing

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No state of society or laws can render men so much alike but that education, fortune, and tastes will interpose some differences between them; and though different men may sometimes find it their interest to combine for the same purposes, they will never make it their pleasure.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Men, Law, Differences

Alexis De Tocqueville (2004). “Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II”, p.506, Bantam Classics

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If a [democratic] society displays less brilliance than an aristocracy, there will also be less wretchedness; pleasures will be less outrageous and wellbeing will be shared by all; the sciences will be on a smaller scale but ignorance will be less common; opinions will be less vigorous and habits gentler; you will notice more vices and fewer crimes.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Ignorance, Vices, Aristocracy

"Democracy in America". Book by Alexis de Tocqueville. Introduction, 1835.

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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

Believe, Justice, Intellectual

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The most durable monument of human labor is that which recalls the wretchedness and nothingness of man.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Men, Labor, Humans

Alexis De Tocqueville (2004). “Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II”, p.48, Bantam Classics

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As I see it, only God can be all-powerful without danger, because his wisdom and justice are always equal to his power. Thus there is no authority on earth so inherently worthy of respect, or invested with a right so sacred, that I would want to let it act without oversight or rule without impediment (p. 290).

Alexis de Tocqueville

Powerful, Justice, Earth

Alexis de Tocqueville, Arthur Goldhammer (2004). “Democracy in America”, p.290, Library of America

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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

Men, Cities, Perfect

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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

Alexis de Tocqueville (1840). “Democracy in America”, p.112

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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 America, Law, Giving

Alexis De Tocqueville (2004). “Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II”, p.235, Bantam Classics

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Of all nations, those submit to civilization with the most difficulty which habitually live by the chase.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Civilization, World, Difficulty

Alexis De Tocqueville (2004). “Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II”, p.280, Bantam Classics

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Alexis de Tocqueville

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Born: July 29, 1805
Died: April 16, 1859
Occupation: Historian
Cite this Page: Citation

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