36 quotes
Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
Nothing tends to materialize man and to deprive his work of the faintest trace of mind more than the extreme division of labor.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
The power of the periodical press is second only to that of the people.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
In order to enjoy the inestimable benefits that the liberty of the press ensures, it is necessary to submit to the inevitable evils it creates.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be, pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
The whole life of an American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a battle.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
"The will of the nation" is one of those expressions which have been most profusely abused by the wily and the despotic of every age.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
Furthermore, when citizens are all almost equal, it becomes difficult for them to defend their independence against the aggressions of power.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
In America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
The people reign over the American political world as God rules over the universe. It is the cause and the end of all things; everything rises out of it and is absorbed back into it.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
With much care and skill power has been broken into fragments in the American township, so that the maximum possible number of people have some concern with public affairs.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
In countries where associations are free, secret societies are unknown. In America there are factions, but no conspiracies.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and what is not yet done is only what he has not yet attempted to do.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
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.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)
Among these widely differing families of men, the first that attracts attention, the superior in intelligence, in power, and in enjoyment, is the white, or European, the MAN pre-eminently so called, below him appear the Negro and the Indian.
Democracy in America, Volume I (1835)