Quotessence
Home / Authors / Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

Historian

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenStatesAmericaDemocraticIfsDemocracyNationsPeopleLibertyPolitical

Famous Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

“Step back in time; look closely at the child in the very arms of his mother; see the external world reflected for the first time in the yet unclear mirror of his understanding; study the first examples which strike his eyes; listen to the first words which arouse within him the slumbering power of thought; watch the first struggles which he has to undergo; only then will you comprehend the source of his prejudices, the habits, and the passions which are to rule his life. The entire man, so to speak, comes fully formed in the wrappings of his cradle.”

MenWorldFirstsLooksChildrenEyeMotherPassionSpeakUnderstandingStepsWatchesStruggleStudyExampleSourceArmsHabitFirst TimePrejudiceMirrorsStrikesHis EyesCradleBack In TimeWrappingPower Of ThoughtUnclear
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“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.”

MenMayTogetherWishCitiesInfluenceExerciseMembersPassionateAwakeningExcitementMutualResolutionInterventionAssemblyPromptsMagistratesProdigious
Book:Democracy in America
Create image

“In the United States the sovereign authority is religious, and consequently hypocrisy must be common; but there is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America; and there can be no greater proof of its utility and of its conformity to human nature than that its influence is powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.”

MenWorldHumansSoulCountryStatesEarthChristianAmericaNationsFeltReligiousUnitedCommonUnited StatesGreaterInfluenceHuman NatureAuthorityProofHypocrisyEnlightenedConformitySovereignUtility
Book:Democracy in America: Book One
Create image

“The most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory; and in contemplating the cause of the present embarrassments, or the future dangers of the United States, the observer is invariably led to this as a primary fact.”

StatesFactsCausesBlackUnitedUnited StatesDangerUnionsPopulationArisePrimariesTerritoryContemplatingObserversEmbarrassmentFormidable
Book:Democracy in America
Create image

“When a monarchy gradually transforms itself into a republic, the executive power there preserves titles, honors, respect, and even money long after it has lost the reality of power. The English, having cut off the head of one of their kings and chased another off the throne, still go on their knees to address the successors of those princes. On the other hand, when a republic falls under one man's yoke, the ruler's demeanor remains simple, unaffected, and modest, as if he had not already been raised above everybody.”

IfsMenLongStillsHandsRealityFallLostSimpleCuttingGoes OnKingsHonorRemainsRaisedTitlesPreservesKneesAddressesExecutivesOne ManRepublicRulersThronesModestMonarchySuccessorsYokeDemeanorExecutive Power
Book:Democracy in America
Create image

“The First thing that strikes a traveler in the United States is the innumerable multitude of those who seek to emerge from their original condition; and the second is the rarity of lofty ambition to be observed in the midst of the universally ambitious stir of society. No Americans are devoid of a yearning desire to rise, but hardly any appear to entertain hopes of great magnitude or to pursue very lofty aims. All are constantly seeking to acquire property, power, and reputation.”

FirstsStatesDesireUnitedUnited StatesConditionsAmbitionOriginalsAimPropertySeekingStrikesPursueReputationAcquireMidstYearningAmbitiousMultitudesTravelerLoftyMagnitudeRarity
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“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.”

IfsPleasureCommonOpinionCrimeIgnoranceHabitDemocraticVicesScalesFewerDisplayBrillianceOutrageousWellbeingVigorousAristocracyDemocratic SocietyWretchedness
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“Nations, as well as man, almost always betray the most prominent features of their future destiny in their earliest years. When I contemplate the ardour with which the Anglo-Americans prosecute commercial enterprise, the advantages which befriend them, and the success of their undertakings, I cannot refrain from believing that they will one day become the first maritime power of the globe. They are born to rule the seas, as the Romans were to conquer the world.”

MenWorldYearsFirstsBelieveWellsNationsBornDestinySeaOne DayAdvantageConquerFeaturesEnterpriseBetrayContemplatingGlobesRefrainUndertakingsProminentConquer The WorldMaritimeFuture Destiny
Book:Democracy in America
Create image

“All revolutions more or less threaten the tenure of property: but most of those who live in democratic countries are possessed of property - not only are they possessed of property but they live in the condition of men who set the greatest store upon their property.”

MenCountryWisdomPoliticsEconomyConditionsRevolutionPropertyDemocraticStoresLiberalismPossessedTenureDemocratic Country
Book:Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II
Create image

“In democratic countries as well as elsewhere most of the branches of productive industry are carried on at a small cost by men little removed by their wealth or education above the level of those whom they employ.”

MenWellsLittlesCountryPoliticsWealthLevelsEconomyIndustryCostDemocraticBranchesLiberalismProductiveElsewhereDemocratic Country
Book:Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II
Create image

“I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositories of the various creeds and have a personal interest in their survival ... all thought the main reason for the quiet sway of religion over their country was the complete separation of church and state. I have no hesitation in stating that throughout my stay in America I met nobody, lay or cleric, who did not agree about that.”

CountryStatesReasonAmericaInterestChurchAtheismMetsQuietSurvivalAgreeLaysVariousPositive AtheismSeparationFaithfulCreedsCommunionChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateHesitationClergymenPersonal Interest
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort. Do not talk to him about the interests and rights of the human race; that little private business of his for the moment absorbs all his thoughts, and he hopes that public disturbances can be put off to some other time.”

HumansLittlesMomentsIndividualInterestRaceRightsPlansPeriodsComfortIncreaseSelfishnessHuman RaceDisturbance
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“There are at the present time two great nations in the world--the Russians and the Americans. The American relies upon his personal interest to accomplish his ends and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and common sense of the people. The Russian centers all his authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude. Their starting point is different and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.”

PeopleWorldGivingTwoDifferentEndsSeemsCoursesHeavenNationsInterestCommonHalfDestinyUnited StatesArmsAuthorityInstrumentsStartingAccomplishCommon SenseFormerRelyLatterPrincipalGlobesScopeStarting PointServitudeExertionGreat NationsPresent TimeRely UponPersonal Interest
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“Religion in America . . . Must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions for that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it . . . I do know know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion - for who can search the human heart? - But I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.”

IfsKnowsHumansHeartDoeCountryWholeUseAmericaPoliticalCertainNationsPartyOpinionClassCitizensRepublicanTasteInstitutionsSincerePeculiarIndispensableHuman HeartMaintenanceImpartFacilitatePolitical Institutions
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“To build enormous palaces, to conquer or to mimic nature, to ransack the world in order to gratify the passions of a man, is not thought of, but to add a few yards of land to your field, to plant an orchard, or enlarge a dwelling, to always be making life more comfortable and convenient, to avoid trouble, and to satisfy the smallest wants without effort and almost without cost. These are small objects, but the soul clings to them; it dwells upon them closely and day by day, till they at last shut out the rest of the world and sometimes intervene between itself and heaven.”

MenWorldWantSoulSometimesLastsOrderPassionHeavenEffortTroubleLandFieldsObjectsCostComfortableAddPlantEnvironmentalEnormousConquerSustainabilitySmallestYardsPalacesConvenientDwellingOrchardSmall Objects
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
Create image

“Democracy encourages a taste for physical gratification; this taste, if it becomes excessive, soon disposes men to believe that all is matter only; and materialism, in its turn, hurries them on with mad impatience to these same delights; such is the fatal circle within which democratic nations are driven round. It were well that they should see the danger and hold back.”

IfsMenShouldBelieveWellsMatterTurnsNationsDemocracyDangerTasteMadDemocraticRoundsDelightDrivenCirclesMaterialismConsumerismGratificationImpatienceOverconsumption
Book:Democracy in America - Vol. I. and II.
Create image

“It would seem that if despotism were to be established among the democratic nations of our days, it might assume a different character; it would be more extensive and more mild; it would degrade men without tormenting them. I do not question that, in an age of instruction and equality like our own, sovereigns might more easily succeed in collecting all political power into their own hands and might interfere more habitually and decidedly with the circle of private interests than any sovereign of antiquity could ever do.”

IfsMenDifferentCharacterHandsSeemsMightWould BeAgePoliticalPoliticsNationsInterestSucceedAssumingDemocraticCirclesInstructionInterfereSovereignCollectingDespotismAntiquityPolitical PowerDegradeDifferent Characters
Book:Democracy in America - Vol. I. and II.
Create image