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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
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Alexis de Tocqueville
Age: 53 †
Born: 1805
Born: July 29
Died: 1859
Died: April 16
Historian
Jurist
Philosopher
Politician
Sociologist
Writer
Paris
France
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville
Tocqueville
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clerel de Tocqueville
Nation
Law
Durable
Nations
Unstable
Power
Resisting
Always
Founded
People
Manners
Laws
Unless
More quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville
The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.
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Every central government worships uniformity: uniformity relieves it from inquiry into an infinity of details, which must be attended to if rules have to be adapted to different men, instead of indiscriminately subjecting all men to the same rule.
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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.
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The more alike men are, the weaker each feels in the face of all.
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Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?
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America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement.
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The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens.
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When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
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So many of my thoughts and feelings are shared by the English that England has turned into a second native land of the mind for me.
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Of all nations, those submit to civilization with the most difficulty which habitually live by the chase.
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Can it be believed that the democracy, which has overthrown the feudal system and vanquished kings, will retreat before tradesmen and capitalists?
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There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.
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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.
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To commit violent and unjust acts, it is not enough for a government to have the will or even the power the habits, ideas and passions of the time must lend themselves to their committal.
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Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of order.
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In the principle of equality I very clearly discern two tendencies one leading the mind of every man to untried thoughts, the other prohibiting him from thinking at all.
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Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.
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There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one.
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Nobody is going to occupy a place higher than I.
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The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.
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