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Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

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Famous Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

“If it be admitted that a man, possessing absolute power, may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should a majority not be liable to the same reproach? Men are not apt to change their character by agglomeration; nor does their patience in the presence of obstacles increase with the consciousness of their strength. And for these reasons I can never willingly invest any number of my fellow creatures with that unlimited authority which I should refuse to any one of them.”

IfsMenShouldMayDoeI CanReasonCharacterNumbersConsciousnessCreaturesAuthorityIncreaseAbsolutesFellowsMajorityRefuseObstaclesUnlimitedAdversariesPossessingLiableReproachMisuseAbsolute Power
Book:American Institutions and Their Influence
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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.”

MenMayTogetherWishCitiesInfluenceExerciseMembersPassionateAwakeningExcitementMutualResolutionInterventionAssemblyPromptsMagistratesProdigious
Book:Democracy in America
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“In the United States, if a political character attacks a sect, this may not prevent even the partisans of that very sect, from supporting him; but if he attacks all the sects together, every one abandons him and he remains alone.”

IfsMayStatesCharacterTogetherPoliticalUnitedUnited StatesRemainsAbandonPartisansSects
Book:The Republic of the United States of America: And Its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined
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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.”

MenMayDifferentSometimesStatesLawPurposeInterestDifferencesPleasureTasteFortune
Book:Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II
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“You may be sure that if you succeed in bringing your audience into the presence of something that affects them, they will not care by what road you brought them there; and they will never reproach you for having excited their emotions in spite of dramatic rules.”

IfsMayCareEmotionAudienceSucceedExcitedDramaticSpiteReproach
Book:Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II
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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?”

PeopleIfsShouldMayDonePoliticalFaithLibertyMoralMastersDestructionTiesProportionRelaxedDeitiesDespotismSubmissive
Book:Democracy in America
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“I am obliged to confess that I do not regard the abolition of slavery as a means of warding off the struggle of the two races in the Southern states. The Negroes may long remain slaves without complaining; but if they are once raised to the level of freemen, they will soon revolt at being deprived of almost all their civil rights; and as they cannot become the equals of the whites, they will speedily show themselves as enemies.”

IfsMayMeanLongTwoWarStatesShowsLevelsRaceEnemyStruggleRightsRacismRegardSlaverySlaveRaisedComplainingCivil RightsSouthernDeprivedObligedRevoltAbolitionFreemanAbolition Of Slavery
Book:Democracy in America
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“Local assemblies of the people constitute the strength of free nations. Municipal institutions are to liberty what primary schools are to science: they bring it within the people's reach, and teach them how to use and enjoy it. A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty.”

PeopleMayUseGovernmentSchoolSpiritNationsEnjoyLibertyTeachInstitutionsLocalsPrimariesAssemblyFree GovernmentPrimary School
Book:The Republic of the United States of America: And Its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined
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“Because Roman civilization perished through barbarian invasions, we are perhaps too much inclined to think that that is the only way a civilization can die. If the lights that guide us ever go out, they will fade little by little, as if of their own accord.... We therefore should not console ourselves by thinking that the barbarians are still a long way off. Some peoples may let the torch be snatched from their hands, but others stamp it out themselves.”

IfsThinkingWayShouldMayLittlesLongStillsHandsLightDiesLibertyToo MuchCivilizationGuidesFadesStampsLong WayInvasionAccordTorchesBarbariansConsoleRoman Civilization
Book:Democracy in America
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