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" Grant me thirty years of equal division of inheritances and a free press, and I will provide you with a republic. "

Alexis de Tocqueville

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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. "

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" The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. "

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" There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin. "

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" The whole life of an American is passed like a game of chance, a revolutionary crisis, or a battle. "

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" Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort. "

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" An American cannot converse, but he can discuss, and his talk falls into a dissertation. He speaks to you as if he was addressing a meeting; and if he should chance to become warm in the discussion, he will say 'Gentlemen' to the person with whom he is conversing. "

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" Life is to be entered upon with courage. "

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

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" 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. "

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" 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. "

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" In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own. "

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" 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. "

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

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" In a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end. "

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

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

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

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" 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. "

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" There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one. "

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

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

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

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

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

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

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" 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? "

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" 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. "

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" 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. "

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

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" 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. "

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