Alexis de Tocqueville

Explore inspiring quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville, a remarkable figure whose words continue to inspire and motivate people around the world.

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men

4 quotes

society

3 quotes

equality

3 quotes

freedom

3 quotes

war

3 quotes

great

3 quotes

business

2 quotes

money

2 quotes

Featured Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville

Some of the most memorable quotes from this author

"Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves."

— Alexis de Tocquevillebest

"We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects."

— Alexis de Tocquevillebusiness

"The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality."

— Alexis de Tocquevillebusiness

"Life is to be entered upon with courage."

— Alexis de Tocquevillecourage

"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."

— Alexis de Tocquevilleequality

"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

— Alexis de Tocquevilleequality

All Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville

Browse all quotes from this author

"Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

bestView Quote

"We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

businessView Quote

"The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

businessView Quote

"Life is to be entered upon with courage."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

courageView Quote

"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."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

equalityView Quote

"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

equalityView Quote

"The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

equalityView Quote

"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

faithView Quote

"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

freedomView Quote

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

freedomView Quote

"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

freedomView Quote

"When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

futureView Quote

"A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

governmentView Quote

"In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

governmentView Quote

"What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

greatView Quote

"The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

greatView Quote

"He was as great as a man can be without morality."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

greatView Quote

"The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

healthView Quote

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

historyView Quote

"Life is to be entered upon with courage."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

lifeView Quote

"I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

menView Quote

"There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

menView Quote

"It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor as such differences become less, it grows feeble and when they disappear, it will vanish too."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

menView Quote

"What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

menView Quote

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

moneyView Quote

"As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?"

-Alexis de Tocqueville

moneyView Quote

"There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

politicsView Quote

"In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

politicsView Quote

"We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

positiveView Quote

"The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

powerView Quote

"The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

religionView Quote

"The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

societyView Quote

"The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

societyView Quote

"Nothing seems at first sight less important than the outward form of human actions, yet there is nothing upon which men set more store: they grow used to everything except to living in a society which has not their own manners."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

societyView Quote

"All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

warView Quote

"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

warView Quote

"There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it."

-Alexis de Tocqueville

warView Quote

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Alexis de Tocqueville

Top Categories by Alexis de Tocqueville

men

society

equality

freedom

war

great

business

money

Featured Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville

All Quotes by Alexis de Tocqueville

"Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves."

"We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects."

"The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality."

"Life is to be entered upon with courage."

"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."

"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

"The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality."

"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith."

"Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."

"I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America."

"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country."

"When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness."

"A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it."

"In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it."

"What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class."

"The debates of that great assembly are frequently vague and perplexed, seeming to be dragged rather than to march, to the intended goal. Something of this sort must, I think, always happen in public democratic assemblies."

"He was as great as a man can be without morality."

"The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens."

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies."

"Life is to be entered upon with courage."

"I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all."

"There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle."

"It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor as such differences become less, it grows feeble and when they disappear, it will vanish too."

"What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class."

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

"As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?"

"There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle."

"In politics shared hatreds are almost always the basis of friendships."

"We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects."

"The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people."

"The Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other."

"The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens."

"The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through."

"Nothing seems at first sight less important than the outward form of human actions, yet there is nothing upon which men set more store: they grow used to everything except to living in a society which has not their own manners."

"All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it."

"No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country."

"There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it."

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