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America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement.

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
Land
Wonder
Seems
Change
America
Wonders
Everything
Motion
Every
Improvement
Constant

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What is understood by republican government in the United States is the slow and quiet action of society upon itself.
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When an American asks for the cooperation of his fellow citizens, it is seldom refused and I have often seen it afforded spontaneously and with great good will.
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With much care and skill power has been broken into fragments in the American township, so that the maximum possible number of people have some concern with public affairs.
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What is not yet done is only what we have not yet attempted to do.
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It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life.
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Despotism may be able to do without religion, but democracy cannot.
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In America one of the first things done in a new State is to make the post go there in the forests of Michigan there is no cabin so isolated, no valley so wild, but that letters and newspapers arrive at least once a week.
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Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort.
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The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
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If there ever are great revolutions there, they will be caused by the presence of the blacks upon American soil.
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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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When, after having examined in detail the organization of the Supreme Court, one comes to consider in sum the prerogatives that have been given it, one discovers without difficulty that a more immense judicial power has never been constituted in any people.
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Despotism can do without faith but freedom cannot.
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The French want no-one to be their superior. The English want inferiors. The Frenchman constantly raises his eyes above him with anxiety. The Englishman lowers his beneath him with satisfaction.
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Religion, which never intervenes directly in the government of American society, should therefore be considered as the first of their political institutions
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At the head of any new undertaking where in France you would find the government, or in England some great lord, in the United States you are sure to find an association.
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[T]he main evil of the present democratic institutions of the united states does not raise, as is often asserted in Europe, from their weakness, but from their irresistible strength. I am not so much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns in that country as at the inadequate securities which one finds there against tyranny.
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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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Equality is a slogan based on envy. It signifies in the heart of every republican: Nobody is going to occupy a place higher than I.
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Trade is the natural enemy of all violent passions. Trade loves moderation, delights in compromise, and is most careful to avoid anger. It is patient, supple, and insinuating, only resorting to extreme measures in cases of absolute necessity.
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