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Quote by Alexis de Tocqueville

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Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville was a French historian and political theorist renowned for his seminal work 'Democracy in America'. He embarked on a journey to the United States in the 1830s to examine its democratic institutions, and his observations were compiled into a two-volume book that remains a cornerstone in the study of American democracy and political science. more

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“In towns it is impossible to prevent men from assembling, getting excited together and forming sudden passionate resolves. Towns are like great meeting houses with all the inhabitants as members. In them the people wield immense influence over their magistrates and often carry their desires into execution without intermediaries.”

PeopleMenTogetherAmericaDesireHouseImpossibleInfluenceMembersTownsMeetingsPassionateExcitedResolveExecutionImmenseMagistratesAssembling
Book:Democracy in America
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“It is odd to watch with what feverish ardour Americans pursue prosperity, ever tormented by the shadowy suspicion that they might not have chosen the shortest route to get it. They cleave to the things of this world as if assured they will never die, and yet rush to snatch any that comes within their reach, as if they expected to stop living before relishing them. Death steps in, in the end, and stops them, before they have grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes them.”

IfsWorldEndsMightDiesStepsWatchesThis WorldTiredProsperityExpectedPursuitChosenPursueOddSuspicionRoutesAssuredFelicity
Author:Alexis de Tocqueville
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“There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for equality which excites men to wish all to be powerful and honored. This passion tends to elevate the humble to the rank of the great; but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom.”

MenHumansHeartFactsPassionWishLevelsPowerfulTasteWeakSlaveryEqualityHumbleInequalityHuman HeartHonoredManlyDepraved
Book:Democracy in America
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“It is almost never when a state of things is the most detestable that it is smashed, but when, beginning to improve, it permits men to breathe, to reflect, to communicate their thoughts with each other, and to gauge by what they already have the extent of their rights and their grievances. The weight, although less heavy, seems then all the more unbearable.”

MenStatesSeemsRightsRevolutionWeightCommunicateHeavyBreathePermitUnbearableGrievanceGauges
Book:Selected Letters on Politics and Society
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