Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own.”

“We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects.”

“The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other.”

“No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country.”

“History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies.”

“In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.”

“When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.”

“The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.”

“An American cannot converse, but he can discuss, and his talk falls into a dissertation. He speaks to you as if he was addressing a meeting; and if he should chance to become warm in the discussion, he will say 'Gentlemen' to the person with whom he is conversing.”

“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”