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Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

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Famous Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes

“Among the droves of men with political ambitions in the United States, I found very few with that virile candor, that manly independence of thought, that often distinguished Americans in earlier times and that is invariably the preeminent trait of great characters wherever it exists.”

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Book:Democracy in America
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“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
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“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.
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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.”

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Book:The Republic of the United States of America: And Its Political Institutions, Reviewed and Examined
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“Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.”

FirstsCountryStatesAmericaPoliticalSpiritFoundReligiousUnitedCommonAttentionUnited StatesConsequenceAspectOppositesFranceArrivalsGreat Political
Book:Democracy In America -- Vol. 1
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“Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”

PoliticalPoliticsDifferencesCommonLibertyDemocracySeekingEqualitySocialismLiberalismPatrioticRestraintOne WordFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyServitudeDemocracies HaveEquality Of PeopleDemocratic SocialismLiberty And EqualityDemocracy In AmericaLiberal DemocracyRoad To SerfdomCapitalism And Socialism
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
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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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Book:Democracy in America
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“I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. As far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself.”

MenWorldHas BeensI CanTodayFormPoliticalSocialCausesDealsOpinionStudyProgressRelationRegardIslamConvictionAbsurdTendenciesVisiblePrincipalPaganismMuhammadQuranDecadenceMuslim WorldPolytheism
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
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“Muhammad professed to derive from Heaven, and he has inserted in the Koran, not only a body of religious doctrines, but political maxims, civil and criminal laws, and theories of science. The gospel, on the contrary, only speaks of the general relations of men to God and to each other - beyond which it inculcates and imposes no point of faith. This alone, besides a thousand other reasons, would suffice to prove that the former of these religions will never long predominate in a cultivated and democratic age, whilst the latter is destined to retain its sway at these as at all other periods.”

MenLongReasonBodyAgeLawPoliticalSpeakHeavenReligiousTheoryPeriodsThousandProveRelationDemocraticIslamCriminalsContraryDoctrineFormerLatterDestinedMaximsNo PointMuhammadCriminal Law
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
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“Muhammad brought down from heaven and put into the Koran not religious doctrines only, but political maxims, criminal and civil laws, and scientific theories. The Gospels on the other hand, deal only with the general relations between man and God and between man and man. Beyond that, they teach nothing and do not oblige people to believe anything. That alone, among a thousand reasons, is enough to show that Islam will not be able to hold its power long in ages of enlightenment and democracy, while Christianity is destined to reign in such ages, as in all others.”

PeopleMenBelieveLongReasonEnoughShowsHandsAgeAbleLawPoliticalHeavenReligiousDealsChristianityTeachDemocracyTheoryThousandEnlightenmentRelationIslamCriminalsDoctrineReignDestinedMaximsMuhammadScientific TheoryAge Of Enlightenment
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
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